


After The First 26 Hours

by 994527



Category: MotoGP RPF, Motorcycling RPF, Sports RPF
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-08
Updated: 2014-02-03
Packaged: 2018-01-08 00:50:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 22,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1126418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/994527/pseuds/994527
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Previously was a one shot called 26 hours...but now a full fic. :)</p><p>Marc Marquez just wants some peace from the World Champion circus, and he thinks there's probably only one place he'll find it. But can it work?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 26 Hours

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know why I'm loving this pairing so much right now. And I don't know why I ironically love Marc (of all riders?!) being the slightly emo kid. But I do....which is how it started. Then it snowballed...
> 
> Now, I don't normally write things like this. So...hopefully, enjoy. ;)

_“Happy New Year!!”_

Marc clinked his glass and tried to focus on the smiling faces. “Happy new year!”

The fireworks started and he stared up at them, completely detached from everything. He wasn’t depressed, or upset, or hurt, or really anything. But the shine of being at the center had worn off, and he’d started to feel himself shutting off from things he didn’t want to deal with, which worried him. _I don’t want to build walls. I just want some peace._

The bangs were accompanied by oohs and aahs from those around him, each one getting louder and sending the Honda rider a few small steps backwards. _Just some peace._

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out to see who was going to be first. _The girl trying to get in my pants, the girl who already did, team members, old friends, old friends who’ve suddenly reappeared, family, family members who never really acted like it…_ He looked down and immediately felt a smile spread across his face. _None of the above._

_Happy New Year to the most annoyingly fast teammate I’ve ever had. I hope you’re having fun calmly and following my example…probably not. ;)_

The picture it was attached to was Dani sat on his sofa in a onesie obviously based on the design of his leathers, hugging his dog, champagne flute in hand. _Dani. Just want some peace. Like Dani._

“You know what?” Marc looked up as he heard his own voice suddenly join the noise. “I’ve got to go.”

Alex turned at the sound of his voice and stared at him like he was crazy, or joking. “What?!”

“I...” Marc held his eye contact and tried to get across how serious he was being. “I need to leave. I need to go and just get out of Spain and from here, and just…just escape for a while…” His feet were already moving him slowly backwards towards the house, gravel crunching lightly underfoot, voice a little bit shaky but getting the message across. “You understand?”

Alex nodded slowly, accepting but worrying. “But are you ok? I mean…you’re ok? Seriously?”

 _If you’re asking me whether I’m having a breakdown, no. I’ll be fine. There’s no drama, unless everyone creates it for me. Which they will…_ Marc nodded and took that as his cue to really go. _He’ll explain, he’ll let me go and then tell them in a while._ “I’ll be fine. It’s…don’t worry.” He flashed his brother a grin that, this time, at the thought of driving off, he really felt. “I’ll see you soon.” He turned round and jogged back into the house, finding his keys and going back through the evening in his head to check he really hadn’t had anything to drink. _No, I’m sure. I’m sure. I’m going._

He started the engine and watched the lights illuminate the driveway. _Is this too insane or just insane enough?_ The radio kicked in and he turned left onto the road. The lights cut through the dark seamlessly and he felt himself start to relax.

_I guess we’ll find out._

*

 _Was that…the doorbell?_ Dani squinted at the ceiling and shook his head slightly to try and wake himself up. He looked at the clock on the bedside table. 8:37am. He heard it again and groaned. _Really? The doorbell?!_

He pulled himself out of bed and padded downstairs, only realizing he’d forgotten a shirt, or anything more than boxers, when he already had a hand on the handle. _Nevermind. Maybe it’ll teach them that this is not ok on the first day of the year._

He pulled open the door and froze.

*

“Hi…”

Marc stood there and waited as Dani’s face went through the different stages of realization. _Hopefully it’ll end with a smile.._ It did, and Marc found himself inside, but still faced with the same stare.

“What are you doing here?!”

Marc looked at him for a couple of seconds, going slightly pink as he noticed the half-nakedness, and shrugged. “Happy new year?!”

Dani frowned at him as if saying no, come on, really, but not adding anything else, before disappearing for a few seconds and returning with jeans and a t shirt on. “Coffee?”

Marc nodded. “Thanks.”

Dani judged the mood perfectly and busied himself making it as his teammate stood and watched, evidently having slightly shell-shocked himself by having actually turned up.  
“Here you go.”

He put the cup down on the kitchen surface nearest the younger rider and watched as he took an appreciative first sip before placing it back down and taking a deep breath. The older rider fixed his eyes back on Marc and asked again, he hoped, in the right mixture of happiness and curiosity. “What are you doing here?”

Marc suddenly took two quick steps forward and grabbed his teammate into a hug. “I just wanted a bit of peace. For a while.”

Dani squeezed him gently in return and let him hold on, wondering what on Earth was going on. “Ok…?” _And you chose me. Ok._ “That’s ok. What’s going on?”

“The last few weeks have just been questions and interviews and smile at this and do this and be here at this time and…I just…I got your message and I just had to leave.” The words were a bit jumbled and rushed out in a quick stream of frustration, voice rising slightly and wobbling as he reached the end. “Being World Champion is the best thing in the world, until everyone tries to grab a bit of it for themselves.”

Dani gently pulled away and steered Marc into a chair near the table, re-placing the coffee closer to his new location. “Ok. Just calm down. Here, we have peace. Lake. Fresh air, mountains if you want…but it’s ok. Nothing to do today that you don’t want to do.”

Marc smiled at him in abject relief. “Thanks. I think I need to sleep, more than anything.”

“Did you fly from Barcelona?”

Marc laughed softly and held up his car keys. “I drove.”

Dani’s eyes widened violently. “What?!”

Marc shrugged and nodded. “I know. Insane.”

 _How badly did you want to get out of there?!_ “Does everyone know where you are?” _Or how badly did you want to come here?!_

Marc shook his head and took another sip of coffee. “They…well…Alex knows I went. I guess he told people. Nobody knows where.”

Dani could feel himself getting ready for the big question. _I’m going to have to ask. ‘Why me?’_. “Right, ok. Well…I guess you don’t want to tell anybody?”

Marc shook his head. “No. I don’t want to see anybody for a few days…” He looked quickly back at his teammate. “Except you, obviously.”

Dani smiled at him and hoped he was doing a good job of masking his hammering heart rate. “Why me?”

Marc stared back at him over the top of his cup. “You’re Dani.”

Dani felt his cheeks flush slightly and nodded as though it was really all a game and the subtext was none existent. “Yeah. I am. Why does that make a difference?”

Marc kept staring for a few seconds before letting his eyes wander across the room. “I like your kitchen. Did you change the colour?”

 _Ok. So not answering means you don’t like the question. Which means you probably don’t like the answer. And also, interestingly, it seems to mean that you refuse to lie about it. Which would mean that you take it seriously._ The older rider felt his heart rate amp up even further. _Do I let you evade or do I keep asking?_ “Yeah. Do you like it?”  


Marc nodded and the gratitude on his face was too obvious. “It’s nice. I liked that purple…was it purple? But this is really nice. Goes really well with the grey worktop.”

Dani could feel it bubble up and knew he was completely incapable of stopping it; the laugh echoed around the room for a couple of seconds, and left Marc staring at him, frozen in bewilderment. “I’m sorry. Sorry. It’s just…you turn up like this and now you’re just sat in my kitchen like it’s normal. The youngest world champion in history just drove through the night to get here and is now discussing interior décor. It’s too much. Come on, please. Put me out of my misery. What’s going on?”

Marc rubbed his hands over his face and avoided eye contact. “I can’t stop thinking about…”

_Do not say Le Mans._

"...Le Mans."

 _He’s telling me he can’t stop thinking about that night. He’s driven 8 hours with no sleep to get here. Because it’s me. And all he wants is peace, away from things he doesn’t like. And apparently the only thing he does like right now is me. Ok._ He took a deep breath. _Let’s do this._ “I thought we agreed that we’d just had a little bit too much to drink?”

Marc nodded and kept his eyes burning straight into Dani’s, over the coffee. “We did.”

“But you can’t stop thinking about it?”

Marc shook his head and put the cup down, this time going for the opposite: zero eye contact. “You know what I actually can’t stop thinking about? Not…the…whatever that was. Not that. I just keep thinking about the moment when I woke up, and I was confused, and a bit hungover, and wasn’t really understanding where I was or why. But when my brain was trying to figure it all out, I just remember looking at you and feeling like whatever it was would turn out fine, because you were there, and we’d sort it out. Like a team.”

Dani swallowed hard and tapped lightly on his mug as, again, his heart tried desperately to do internal somersaults. _Like a team. That’s sound serious. That’s…that’s not a drunken kiss and going to sleep curled up. That’s …serious._ “Right.”

Marc looked at him again and he could see the younger rider trying to weigh him up. _It’s simple, really. I agree. But I’m welded to the chair by fear._

“Then…well. More than that. I keep thinking about that split second when you woke up and we looked at each other…that was...I don’t know what to call it without sounding stupid. But before common sense kicked in, that moment wasn’t weird at all. It was just…normal.”

“Ok, ok.” Dani got to his feet and ran his hands over his face to make sure he was awake. “Are you being serious?” He stared at his teammate in a calm, measured question. “Honestly. You’re being serious.”

Marc nodded. “I’m serious. I don’t…I don’t know whether you ever think about that. I don’t know if you regret anything having happened or if you regret…trying to forget that it did.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “I’ve been awake 25 hours. Can I go to sleep now?”

Dani stared at him and motioned him over. Marc got up from the chair and hesitantly moved towards him. “Like I said. You can do what you want, when you want. You want sleep?”

Another nod.

“Ok, well I want more sleep too. So let’s go upstairs.”

Marc followed him up the familiarly modern staircase and hovered behind as Dani stopped at the top and turned round. “Ok…This is my room. This is a spare room. I’m going in here-“ He pointed to his room, “-and you can do what you want, when you want. Ok?”

Marc nodded. “Ok…”

Dani leaned up to close the difference between them and left a soft, quick kiss on his teammate’s lips. “You want to sleep, we sleep. Alone, not alone, here, there…asleep. Or awake. Whatever you want.”

The older rider turned and went into his room, leaving Marc alone at the top of the stairs. _What I want, when I want. Ok._ He went to use the bathroom and then stared at himself in the mirror, looking worse for wear without the sleep but more awake from the situation. _Whatever I want._ It suddenly seemed terrifying. _But it shouldn’t. The Le Mans moment. Turn off your brain and everything works. So well._

He pushed open the door to Dani’s room softly and pulled off his hoody, leaving it with his jeans, and t shirt, in a pile next to where his teammate had obviously done the same, before pulling back the covers slightly and getting into the bed. _This is what I want._ He tried to relax and thought Dani must have fallen asleep before he felt a finger trace a line down his arm, words appearing muffled from the other side of the bed.

“ _This_ is what you want?”

Marc turned over to face him and found he’d done the same. “Y-yeah.”

“Ok. So do I.” Marc felt relief wash over him as Dani moved closer and snuggled down slightly, his face suddenly cracking into a grin. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

Marc nodded softly and closed his eyes as he felt himself start to warm up, enjoying the skin contact with his teammate. “I’m insane.”

“That’s why I like you.”

“You do like me then?”

“Maybe. You’re ok. Bit boring. We have nothing in common. Your eyes are horrible. You don’t laugh or smile enough.”

Marc laughed into the pillow and looked back at his teammate. Dani smiled again and ran a finger over his teammate’s cheek. “See.”

Marc just kept his eyes staring at the older rider and smiled. “This is what I want. I want this to be all the time…I just don’t…I don’t know if…well. Ok.” He cleared his throat and suddenly looked nervous. “I’ve had girlfriends and one night stands and all that. I’ve never looked at guys before. And I don’t…I don’t know. I’m going to sound stupid, ok?”

Dani smiled and nodded. _No, you won’t._

“I don’t look at you and get…turned on. No! Ok…” He closed his eyes and Dani watched him cringe as he tried to figure out what he was saying. _I already know what you’re going to say, so spit it out._

“I find you attractive. Which seems crazy to me anyway. BUT- when I look at you, I don’t just think about…physical things. I don’t-…I mean-…This, right now, is perfect. Just being here…we don’t have to do anything…”

Dani found his hand under the covers and threaded his fingers through his. “I know. I know what you mean.”

Marc’s hand squeezed his in response but his eyes stayed closed. “It’s terrifying.”

“There’s only me and you here. There’s nothing to be scared of.”

Finally his eyes opened again and he nodded. “I know you’re right…but it’s not always going to be just me and you, is it?”

“No.” Dani closed the last few inches between them and touched his lips to Marc’s. “But…” He felt the other rider respond and let the sentence out in between breaths and lip contact, “-we can… think about that… whenever… we have to. Which isn’t now.” He pulled away and saw a nod in return. “Is this peace ok for you?”

Marc grinned and this time took the initiative and returned the favour before pulling away and finally letting that normal, wickedly delicious smile take over. “Yeah. And I think I might be able to make it to 26 hours awake…”

Dani raised his eyebrows and smiled. “26? Good number.” Marc laughed and relaxed into the pillow as his teammate pounced on him and ran his tongue down his neck, eliciting a long, soft moan.

“Very, _very_ good number.”


	2. Fast Learner

Marc had never been in a similar situation before. There were two main differences: one, obviously, the person on top of him had a penis. Two, the person on top of him was incredibly important to him. The stakes were different and raised at the same time.

He felt himself flush white hot as his teammate straddled him under the covers, their mutual excitement suddenly obvious as their crotches came into contact for the first time. Dani relaxed against him and sat on the younger rider as his hands ran through his hair and his tongue ran down his neck. The noise Marc made, somewhere in between bliss and torture, made the older rider’s heartbeat skip and slide through his chest, suddenly cutting through his thoughts to make his consciousness realize that it really was _him_ beneath him. _He’s probably never done this before. So we’ll go slow. Not that he does anything else slowly._ Dani kissed his teammate again and felt the first few seconds soon evaporate into nothing as something in Marc started to respond. It was like a switch being flicked, and suddenly it wasn’t the Marc who’d walked away from his family and driven all night, it was the Marc sliding the rear tyre, revving the throttle, pulling across at the end of the straight. The Marc that came from 33rd on the grid and won the race.

That Marc was suddenly pushing back at Dani with equal ferocity, tongue meeting his, beating it, and teeth biting his teammate’s bottom lip with enough force to elicit a similar moan from the older rider. _I lied. THIS is what I wanted._ Dani felt himself losing the upper hand and let Marc turn the tables and pin him down, tongue and lips tracing a devilishly slow line down his neck, pressure on his crotch making him involuntarily grab fistfuls of sheet in one hand, and fistfuls of Marc’s hair in the other, before the dark shock of hair belonging to his teammate disappeared under the sheets as his tongue’s journey down Dani’s neck ended and he instead kissed a line down his chest, down to his crotch, his teammate’s hand still tangled in his hair.

_Not lacking in confidence, then._

Marc was responding the same way he responded to any situation where he was nervous: ignore it, and just go harder. Just go for it.  
He felt Dani’s fingers twist harder in his hair in response to his mouth finally reaching its destination. He tried to focus on what he liked, and just pay attention to any response from his teammate, wrapping his right hand tentatively around his cock and running his tongue from base to tip following the line of his fingers. The resultant yank on his hair, squeal and bucking of Dani’s hips made him realize he was probably doing it right.

_Fast learner_. 

He ran a ring around the head of Dani’s cock with his tongue as he started to slowly move his hand up and down, keeping the pressure on, remembering all the bad blow jobs he’d ever had. _Pressure. Not too much licking. Sex is better, because sex is_ pressure _not just contact_. He released his hand and slowly took Dani into his mouth, fully, feeling the want to gag but knowing he could control it, feeling his hair again attempting to be ripped from his head, groan from above the sheets now lower, and more urgent as he closed his lips around his teammate. _Pressure._ He pulled his head back slowly and danced his tongue against Dani’s cock as he kept his lips tightly pressed against him. Deeper then almost out, then again, and again, and again, each time feeling the earthquake go through his teammate’s thighs as he got to the end and pressed repeat, speeding up each time until eventually the motion was fluid and continuous, and Dani’s hands were both clenched tightly, bottom lip being bitten hard to stop from waking up the French and Swiss sides of the lake.

“I..I’m going to…”

Dani faltered as his teammate sped up and got rougher before his hand thrust its way back into Marc’s hair and held him still as he came in his mouth.

“…come!”

Dani could hear himself panting, almost drowning out the cows outside, the distant hum of the road, the almost audible noise of the lake. They stayed still for a few seconds, the only movement Dani’s involuntary aftermath trembling. His heart was hammering. _I wanted to give you a choice about that, but you didn’t really give_ me _a choice…_ Marc’s head reappeared above the sheets and Dani searched his face for any sign of not having wanted that to happen. _Nothing._

Marc pressed his lips to his teammate’s and felt himself smile into it as he felt Dani’s tongue make the first move, no thought given to whether he wanted to taste himself on the younger rider or not. _I think I did ok._

Dani relaxed back into the pillow and let the younger rider keep him pinned down, in that post orgasm state of _nothing_ where he could feel everything hyper sensitively, but couldn’t respond to any of it because his brain was spinning the wrong way. Fast. Marc kissed gently at first, nervous again after the glow of success had faded, then more and more confident, tentatively stroking himself against his teammate’s thigh, trying successfully to hint at Dani that leaving it there wasn’t fair.

The pressure between them started to build again and Dani felt himself wondering if he’d ever felt anything like it before, or whether he was fooling himself because of how many times he’d wanted it to happen. It was that feeling of desperation, clawing and scrabbling at the other person to be as close as possible, close not close enough, inside still not inside enough, any speck of daylight in between them feeling like the Grand Canyon. But not just physical. It wasn’t to get physically closer. Dani knew that and was terrified and hopeful at the same time. _Is he feeling that?_

Marc eventually made the move to put himself under his teammate. He stared up at him and broke the kiss for long enough to communicate with actual words.

“Stop. Being. Gentle.”

Dani stared at him questioningly and Marc raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t test me…” His hand suddenly grabbed Dani’s left ass cheek and squeezed, hard. Hard enough to make him yelp. “I won’t break. Feels like we’ve waited long enough..?”

Dani pulled back slightly as Marc tried to carry on where he’d left off, making sure to keep his eye contact and be understood when he kissed him again, just on the lips, just to break the reckless spell slightly and communicate some genuine feeling, pulling back again and nodding at the younger rider slowly. _But…_

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Dani leaned in again, going slower, being more careful, taking more time over everything. “There’s no rush.” He felt Marc’s mouth grin again before the younger rider was then the one trying to speak. 

“I want you. Inside me. Now.”

Dani almost choked at the suddenly authoritative, demanding tone of voice. 

Marc seemed to read his facial expression and shook his head, smiling, enjoying the feeling of surprising his teammate. “You’re in control. Do what you want.” He let the challenge creep back into his voice and leveled his gaze at Dani. “You understand? You’re in control.”

The older rider stared at him and felt his mouth fall open slightly in shock. “Serious?”

Marc nodded and nipped Dani’s bottom lip. “Serious. Come on. Now.”

Dani took a slightly deeper breath than he’d managed for the last ten minutes and nodded. “Fine. Turn over.”

Marc grinned at him before he complied, a split second of delicious, happy mischievousness shining back up at Dani, who nuzzled his face into his teammate’s neck and felt his skin shiver in response. 

“Now that’s more like it.”


	3. Here We Go Again

It was 3.36pm when Dani woke up again. He glanced over at the sleeping form raveled up in the sheets next to him and smiled, gently extricating himself from the bed and padding over to the bathroom. He splashed his face with cold water to try and make sure he didn’t go back to sleep, before brushing his teeth quickly and using the toilet. He cringed at the loudness of the flush, washed his hands, and gently pushed the bedroom door open again, stopping for a second in the doorway as Marc moved and his head popped out above the sheets.

Dani stared, and stared. Ruffled, tousled, scruffy, disheveled…whatever word he could think of, the only thing he could focus on was the pure _beauty_ of Marc’s grinning form.

“I thought you’d gone.”

Dani shook his head and just about managed to walk back over to the bed and get in. “It’s my house…”

“True…” Marc stretched his arms above his head as a big yawn took over. “Although I probably wouldn’t rob you…”

Dani smiled and deposited a quick kiss on top of his teammate’s head. “How nice of you.”

Marc laughed and sat up fully, looking around the room before slowly turning back to Dani as he realised he was getting stared at. “What…?”

Dani smiled and shook his head. “Maybe if you could see you, you’d understand.”

Marc flushed slightly pink and frowned. “What…?!”

Dani rolled his eyes at him and started trying to push him out of the bed. “It was a compliment.”

“Oh.” Marc let himself be pushed to his feet and stretched again before turning back to his teammate. “Breakfast?”

Dani nodded and watched him pull on his jeans, leaving everything else off. He suddenly felt panic hit him in the chest and locked eyes with the younger rider again. Marc raised his hands as if asking what the problem was.

“How is this going to work?!”

The curious sparkle in Marc’s eye started to die as he misunderstood his teammate. “What do you-“

Dani realised the problem and interrupted. “I mean, we have to be teammates! We have to share a garage and go to events and act normal…I don’t…I mean…do you even understand what you’re doing to me?!”

Marc laughed wickedly in relief and wagged his ass back at Dani. “Maybe I do.” He got on the bed again on his knees and started to drag Dani to his feet. “But, it’ll work out. Somehow. We’ll just have to be careful.”

Dani surrendered against his better judgment and followed his teammate downstairs.

_We will. But will it?_

*

Marc spent a week in Geneva. After they’d had their afternoon breakfast on the first day of the year, he’d called Alex and made sure everything was ok, explained everything. Well, explained where he was, explained he’d be there for a while. The question _why Dani?_ hadn’t been asked yet, but Marc could tell from his brother’s avoidance of the topic that he knew something was different, or important, about that detail, and that he wasn’t asking because he didn’t think Marc would tell him. And Marc was glad. He wasn’t ready to tell him. He wasn’t ready to tell anyone.  
On the second day they went karting and tested out being in public without displaying anything too obvious, which had proved difficult. They took the photo of them on the ‘podium’ back to Dani’s house – which Marc had realised he’d already started to think of as ‘home’ – and stuck it on the fridge. On the third day they went out for food in Geneva and got photographed, which was why Dani had brought a couple of friends along. On the fourth day they stayed in bed and watched movies. On the fifth day, Dani cooked. On the sixth day, they got up early, spent an hour in the gym, showered together, and then sat staring at each other over muesli at the breakfast table in comfortable silence, twins in white bath robes.   
“  
Imagine if I’d never come here.”

Dani shook his head and kept chewing. “No.”

Marc grinned at him and suddenly put his bowl down, staring at his teammate. “I love you.”

Dani froze and stared before his bowl also descended to the table, albeit slowly. _Beaten me again._ He felt his grin grow. “I love you too.”

*

Marc put the bag that Dani had leant him on the kitchen table and went through a quick check list to make sure he had everything. Although he’d not arrived with anything, he had bought some stuff, and also thought it would seem strange on the plane to not have luggage. He was leaving his car at his teammate’s house for the 5 days before they’d both be in Milan for an event, when he would fetch it. A 9 hour drive feels longer when you’re driving away from something. 

Dani followed him into the kitchen and deposited his now empty coffee cup on the side as he turned to see if his teammate was ready to go, car keys dangling from his other hand. “Ready?”

Marc nodded and sighed as he picked the bag up again. “Yeah.”

Dani nodded in solidarity with his emotions and crossed the space between them. “I know. But I’ll see you soon. Only a few days…”

Marc nodded and kissed him on the cheek. “I know. But…you know…”

Dani took the bag from the younger rider and put it back on the table. “I do. And we’re going to have to say goodbye now. We can’t do it at the airport.”

Marc’s eyes widened as he realised that was true. “I have to walk away from you and pretend it’s fine.”

Dani nodded sadly and put a hand on each of Marc’s hips. “Yeah.” His teammate reciprocated and pulled him in for a long, slow kiss. 

“I’m going to miss you.”

*

It was the first real test of being out in public, because it was an airport full of people, and because of the occasion. It was harder than either of them expected to just casually part ways without doing or saying anything else. Marc felt like he was somehow supposed to be mad at his teammate and that must be the reason why he was resolutely walking away from him without turning round to say a last goodbye. 

_It’s only going to get harder._

His felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out.

_Keep going... I’m still stood here watching you go… :( I’m so glad you came. It seems crazy now to think this could never have happened! Have a safe flight. Have a good time with your family. Call me lots. Love you._

Marc clenched his jaw slightly as his feet tried to pivot him round, before getting himself back under control and managing a reply.

_Don’t. And I know, I can’t imagine if I hadn’t… Have a good few days. Be careful tomorrow doing motocross! I will call you every day! And I love YOU too._

*

“Helloo..?” Marc walked back into the kitchen ahead of his brother and waited for anyone to appear. No one.

“I think they went out for lunch.”

“Ah. Good.” He dumped the bag on the sofa and sat down next to it. “I might get some sleep…”

Alex raised his eyebrows at him as he drank milk out the carton, earning a disapproving frown from his older brother as he put it back in the fridge and shhhh’d him. “Tired?”

Marc laughed and nodded as he yawned. “Not slept much this week.”

There was an awkward moment of silence as he didn’t explain himself and Alex didn’t press further.

“Right. Well…there’s a pile of paperwork and stuff in the office for you. Interview questions, requests, timetables…”

Marc groaned and pulled himself to his feet. “Great.”

_Here we go again._


	4. Would He Do That?

Marc collapsed into bed and went through his mental checklist to check everything was done. Except for one thing. He pulled out his phone and guiltily realised he hadn’t talked to Dani all day.

_How was training?_

The response was almost immediate. _Good! I’m going to kick your ass this year ;) How are you?_

_Haha :) I’m ok. Finally in bed…_

_DON’T. Haha. Me too ;)_

_Ok come on, you made that worse._

Marc waited for the reply and jumped slightly as his phone started to ring, answering eagerly and checking the door was shut. “Hey.”

_Hi. I wanted to talk to you properly…can you talk now?_

“Me too. And yeah...I was just…a bit worried about anyone overhearing…”

Dani laughed and Marc could hear the cheeky raised eyebrows in his voice. _Planning on being loud?_

“Don’t.” Marc bit his bottom lip and tried to take deep breaths. “You know before we…got together? I liked you, I thought you were hot…but I could talk to you without… _this_ happening.” He looked down at his crotch and sighed. “You really think this isn’t going to be obvious?”

_Seriously? You’ve got a boner right now?_

Marc laughed and went slightly pink. “Yes, ok. I have. I’m 20 years old and I’m in my first gay relationship.”

They let the silence sit there for a minute as Marc wondered if Dani was wondering if he was wondering if what he meant by that was that Dani was the beginning, but they probably wouldn’t work out. And Dani wondered if Marc was wondering if he was wondering that, too. And also got suddenly hit by the age gap.

 _Right. Sorry. I’ll try and be less explicit._ The dead pan tone eased them back on track slightly before Dani made it worse again. _It’s only been…8 days. Since this happened. How is that possible?_

“I don’t know. But…I was…well, ok. I wasn’t exactly surprised to find myself in bed with you…so it’s not really a shock to the system, right?”

Dani paused again. _You really thought about me before? For a while? Before Le Mans?_

Marc laughed and nodded at the phone, despite the fact it was a futile gesture. “Yeah. Do you remember the first test in Sepang last year?”

_Yeah?_

“Do you remember when we did that press conference and I stayed behind?”

_Yeah?_

“Well I couldn’t leave! Because if I got up everybody would see!”

Dani giggled and tried to recapture the memory now it had been illuminated. _Oh! I didn’t do anything, did I?!_

“No. But we were sat so close together. And it was really hot. And when you left your shirt stuck to you…”

_Wow. You’ve got a good memory._

“I think my body just has good taste.” They both went quiet again as they realised they were getting dangerously close to Phone Sex: Population 2. “Ok. Changing the subject. How was training? You didn’t break anything?”

_I broke a bike. But not myself. You?_

“Not too bad then. And yeah, good. Alex is getting pretty fast…” He took a breath and held it for a second as he listened to see if anyone in the house was moving. Nothing. “So…question. Would it seem strange if you picked me up from the airport next week?”

_I was thinking about that. I don’t know. Also, did you get your hotel confirmation? Because mine says I got a twin room…_

“Yes. I have a double.”

_Good. Just hope they’re next to each other…_

“Or at least on the same floor.”

_Exactly. Probably will be though, right? We usually have a block…_

“Yeah, should be fine.” 

_And…I don’t know. I don’t think it would be too weird if I picked you up, right? I mean…lots of riders are good friends. They’re not just going to assume there’s more to it, are they?_

“True. Ok. I land at 3.30. Pick me up.” 

_I will. Ok…I need to go. I know it’s not that late but I’m going skiing tomorrow and we’re setting off early…_

“Ok. Have a good time.” _We?_ Marc tried to control his jealous impulse and failed. 

_Thanks. Have a good time with Alex. Be careful…_

“You too. Love you. Bye.” 

_Love you too. Bye…_

Marc stared at his phone and wondered how something that a second ago had been speaking to him in Dani’s voice was now silent and black. 

_Goodnight._

* 

_Sepang – First test_

Dani could see that Marc could see that they were both finding it extremely difficult to not jump each other every time they were both in the pits. It didn’t help that their job was riding something. Hard. 

Dani wasn’t sure if the team could sense anything different between them, but he knew eventually they would at least realize that the avoidance tactics – that they now knew had started to creep in the season before because they both thought they were the only one interested and trying to kill the feeling quickly – had gone, and genuine happiness to spend time together had replaced them. _And that’s enough, isn’t it? At least as team mates we do get all this time together._ The person Dani was most worried about was Alberto Puig. Because his feelings on sleeping with – or even talking to – the enemy were pretty extreme. As witnessed in the 3 years in the top class it took Dani to make his own decision about Jorge Lorenzo and stop brushing him off. Friendly was fine. He wasn’t from the Valentino Rossi school of racing poker. Although no longer working with Dani closely, the Sabadell native knew that Alberto would watch. And see. _And I can’t sit down and explain that it’s fine. That the line between on track and off is clear. Because off track we make a_ lot _of contact._

His mind wandered over that contact again and he felt his cheeks burn as he looked around the garage and checked no one was eyeing him, before picking up his phone and texting his teammate. 

_THIS IS TOO HARD._

Marc’s phone beeped in the other side of the garage and Dani heard a soft laugh as he obviously read it and then replied. 

_Don’t use that word ;) and we can do this! Only 2 more hours, then lots of waiting in traffic, then a meal with the team, then maybe a drink in the bar, and then….peace! ;) Or maybe war. In bed. ;) But we’ll make it._

Dani read the response and felt his stomach flip as the list of things they had to do before they could be alone seemed infinite. And it was only a test. He wondered not for the first time if it would be possible to keep it going through a season. Races, and tests, and press conferences…all without giving anything away. _Or, maybe we will reach that point where we have to tell people._

He frowned as he replied with a smiley face and put his phone down again. 

_And would I be ok with that? Making MotoGP history in a way I never intended to?_

He nodded at his mechanics as they indicated he was needed for another run. 

_And would he do that?_


	5. Dirt

They hadn’t thought it through. Dani realised that as he looked across at Marc on the start line, fixing his goggles before catching the older rider’s gaze and nodding at him. Dani felt a shiver run down his spine.

_Too much._

Watching his teammate’s wrist twist the throttle made him tingle and he kept staring at him as Marc seemed to realize that; revving it hard, eyes twinkling with evil mischief as he watched Dani squirm.

The countdown started and Dani wrenched his eyes forwards, away from the line.

_Focus. Win this, and you choose what he has to do in defeat._

The gate dropped and Dani rocketed past him into the lead.

_Which will definitely involve mud spattered leathers._

*

Dani had won it, and he’d been planning on the kind of evening back at his house that made him smile wickedly at the thought of the blogs and journalists that had suddenly started to notice they spent time together and shake his head at how innocent they were. Not one question about whether it could possibly be a _relationship_. Whether they could possibly have picked up a few of their scratches away from the track. But Marc liked it that way, so Dani didn’t mind.

He’d come to fetch his car. Then they’d made a bet at some point that had led to Marc triumphantly Googling where they could have the race they’d decided on, and it wasn’t that far away. 50 minutes over the border. Dani couldn’t refuse, despite knowing that, when the team found out, they wouldn’t be too happy about having been out the loop.

They got back to the main building and changing room and wearily dismounted the bikes, Marc grinning at his teammate as he pulled off his helmet and stared down at how filthy he was.

Dani was equally enjoying the sight of the younger rider covered in mud. “I had you.”

Marc raised his eyebrows and that familiar evil sparkle reappeared as he let a smile creep onto his face and threw his gloves down. “Not the first time…”

Dani looked around to check no one was in ear shot and took a few steps towards him. “Not the last?”

“Depends if you play nice.”

“I can if you want…”

“I’d rather play dirty.” Marc bit his bottom lip slightly as he ran his right index finger over the back of his left hand before sucking the resultant mud off and watching Dani’s teeth clench in torture.

_Mud? Really?_ “That’s it. Inside. Now.”

Marc darted into the changing room and round the corner out of sight as Dani took one last look behind him to check no one was going to follow. No one was within a 100ft radius, so he followed his teammate inside and stopped dead as he came face to face with Marc leaning on the far wall, waiting. Patiently. Intentionally. As though he waited for people to come and fuck him in changing rooms every week.

“Jesus.”

Marc grinned and laughed _that_ laugh, licking his lips slightly as his teammate started to cover the last distance between them before putting a hand on Dani’s chest to stop him slightly short. The older rider looked at him questioningly before Marc starting lightly tugging on the zipper to his teammate’s leathers, soon leaving the older rider unzipped to the bottom. Dani understood somehow that he was supposed to stay still, wait his turn, and he let Marc pull his shoulders free and free his arms before the World Champion grabbed each side of the leathers at the waist and pulled them down, with his boxers, slowly. Dani felt his hand shoot out to the wall to steady himself as Marc wrenched up and unbooted and unsocked each foot in turn, pushing the pile of discarded muddy stuff away from them and stepping back slightly to admire his handiwork. The resultant nod evidently meant he liked what he saw. 

“Now me.”

He locked his eyes with his teammate and watched him accept the challenge. Dani wondered for a split second how he could top Marc’s attempts before smiling as he realised, and watched Marc’s eyes burn into his as he saw the idea, and wondered what it was. He leaned in and kissed a line down Marc’s neck as he closed his eyes, unsure of what Dani would do next before feeling the zip being tugged down and opening them to watch. Dani placed a palm on the wall on either side behind his teammate and steadied himself as he made the slow journey from standing to crouching, zipper clenched tightly between his teeth. He could feel his teammate’s mucles flex slightly, skin shivering as the zip brushed over them, before his mouth reached its destination and he looked back up towards Marc. The younger rider’s eyes burned into his, almost black, chest moving up and down in quick succession as he tried to keep himself under control. Dani grinned wickedly and started to journey in reverse with his tongue, Marc’s hand tangling itself in his teammate’s hair until they were finally face to face, and quickly mouth to mouth, the younger rider now in only half his leathers, bare skin of his back shoved roughly against the wall as his legs wrapped around his teammate’s waist. Dani’s mouth found its target had become Marc’s neck as the difference in height changed the game and the older rider braced them against the wall with one hand, Marc’s throat vibrating through his lips as he moaned slightly before trying to speak.

“Someone…could…see…”

Dani lowered him back to the floor and moved one hand around his waist to the small of his back, sliding fingers first below the line where his leathers started, feeling Marc clench as he squeezed and made eye contact again.

“No one will see. No one else is here…”

Any other protestation was immediately forgotten as Dani finally pulled his teammate’s leathers to the floor and repeated Marc’s trick with the boots, turning his teammate around and tracing a line down his back with his index finger, over a couple of small scars that were invisible until you were millimeters away from them, crotch pressed against Marc, feeling the younger rider arch his back slightly as he pushed back against him.

Dani improvised and leant over to pump some handwash from the adjacent sink, lathering himself up and smiling slightly at the soft laugh it elicited from his teammate.

“What?”

“You’re really asking me that.” Marc kept his eyes on the wall in front of him, hand still braced against it, ready.

“Yeah. I am.”

“Ok…I’m about to have sex with my teammate in a changing room in rural France, he’s lubing himself up with soap and I’m just stood here like that’s a normal thing that happens in my life…”

It was Dani’s turn to laugh slightly as he let Marc feel the now slick surface rubbing against him, waiting a few more seconds. “It is now.”

“It is.”

Marc’s fingertips dug into the wall as Dani’s fingers eased into him, exploring.

“How do you control yourself?” Marc’s words came out slightly higher pitched than normal. Still resolutely staring straight ahead.

“What do you mean?”

Marc rested his forehead against the wall and relaxed. “I mean…the other way around? You’d have been smashed through the wall in 5 seconds…”

“Maybe next time you can show me what you mean…” Dani finally pushed harder and felt Marc clench around him, enjoying the short expulsion of shocked breath as the younger rider hadn’t quite been expecting it, using every inch of self-control to try and manage one last word before, he knew, they were going to not be able to speak for a while. “Yeah?”

Dani wasn’t sure if he was responding to his words or his actions, but a loud “YES!” echoed around the brick walls of the changing room.


	6. Pesa más la rabia que el cemento

Jerez – Race day

The alarm blared suddenly from the bedside table and the two dark heads of hair popped up in unison. They looked at each other as Dani tried to manhandle his phone into shutting up, before Marc noticed the sunlight streaming through the window and sat bolt upright.

“FUCK! It’s Sunday morning!”

Dani groaned as he realised what had happened. “We slept through the 2am alarm…”

Marc always stayed after qualifying. And he always went back to his own motorhome at 2am, successfully avoiding the curious eyes of the paddock. Except, sometimes, for Valentino, who didn’t bat an eye.

“Fuck fuck fuck! Dani!! It’s Sunday!!”

Dani nodded and rubbed his hands over his face to wake up fully as he watched the pantomime panic unfold to his left. “Yes. Ok. Calm down. Calm down and we’ll figure it out.”

Marc was on his feet and hopping around the bed trying to pull clothes on as quickly as possible. “But how? Everyone will know!”

Dani felt that old pang of concern again as he looked at how bothered Marc seemed about the idea of the secret getting out. _And why is he like that? Is it because he’s gay, or bi? Is it because he’s nervous about what people would say? Or is it because it’s me?_

“Look…they will if you run out of here half-dressed at 7am, looking guilty and panicking. But if you wait a while, have breakfast….it’s going to be way less obvious that you stayed. It’ll look like you just came over to have breakfast or a coffee or something.

Marc froze as he thought through the idea and slowly began to nod. “That actually makes sense.”

Dani nodded at him and snuggled back down, beckoning the younger rider back to bed with one hand. “I know.”

Marc pulled off the few items of clothing he’d successfully found and got back in. “Ok. Calm.” He took a deep breath and tapped himself lightly on the cheek, staring at the ceiling. “Calm…”

Dani laughed and shook his head. “How do _you_ control a MotoGP bike? Seriously?!”

Marc stuck out his tongue before shrugging and diving under the covers. “Leave me alone.”

Dani rolled his eyes good naturedly and gave chase. 

_Never._

*

Catalunya – Sunday evening

It was the first time they’d yelled at each other, and it didn’t feel good. It had been a long weekend, with lots of events and press conferences, exposure…more eyes than usual looking at them, scrutinizing. Scrutinizing what they thought was an intense on track rivalry between the two native riders. But that wasn’t what it was.

It was the build-up of, ironically, not getting enough, or any, time together that did it. Dani said something unwise, he couldn’t even remember what, and Marc had replied in a quick snap of irritation, which had annoyed Dani, which had lit the touch paper for both of them and they were stood behind the garage screaming at each other, confusing team members and passers-by alike with their veiled attempts at not giving anything away, until Dani finally felt himself snap. 

“You just can’t stand the fact that I’ve beaten you again, can you?”

They stood and stared at each other and Dani felt the heat shimmering up from the asphalt in waves as he watched his teammate start to slowly implode.

“WHAT?!” Marc’s eyes went midnight black and he glared at his teammate, chest heaving as he tried to breathe. “TAKE that BACK. NOW.”

“No.” Dani shrugged at him and shook his head slightly helplessly, caught between the rage and the hurt of watching Marc’s face harden.

“Take it BACK, Dani.” Warning. Serious warning.

Marc waited a few more seconds, fists clenching and unclenching by his sides, before whirling around and disappearing through the throng of people who had started to surround them.

_I think I crossed a line._

*

“Go away.” The knock sounded again and Marc growled to himself as he got up and forced his feet to carry him to the door, wrenching it open. “WHAT?!”

He stared down at his brother’s wide-eyed stare.

“Oh. It’s you.”

Alex kept staring and shrugged at him as though asking if he could come in. Marc growled again and let his brother inside, slamming the door behind him and stomping back over to where he’d been sat.

“What do you want?”

“Don’t be like that with me.”

“Pfff.”

“I mean it. Calm down. What happened? Why are you so angry?”

Marc snapped his eyes up to meet his brother’s and knew it was going to come out. “Dani. Pedrosa.”

Alex raised his eyebrows and waited. “What about him? He beat you to second, or what?”

Marc could feel his eyes widen further and watched Alex’s face go white as he saw the effect his words had on his brother.

“NO! NOT BECAUSE HE BEAT ME! ONCE!”

Alex visually shrank away slightly and made a ‘calm down’ gesture with both hands. “Woah, ok. Sorry. What happened then?” _And how on Earth has it made you this angry?_

Marc stared at him and took in a few gulps of air as he tried to calm himself down. “Ok. Sorry. That’s…that’s what he said. But I wasn’t angry because of that…” He sighed and ran a hair through his hair, finally able to talk at normal volume. “I’ve never had a fight with him before.”

Alex stared at him and waited. _Right…_

“I need to tell you something.”

Awkward pause. “I’m listening...”

“I…me and Dani…” Marc looked away and let out a whoosh of breath. “We’re…together. As in…I’m…bisexual. In a relationship with him.” He didn’t dare look back at his brother as he let the words sink in. _So, you see…that’s why I’m so angry._

Alex stared at him and felt his mind go completely blank. “Oh.”

Marc nodded and tried to read his face for a reaction. “And we’ve never fought before, like this. And then he asked if I was angry because he beat me…That hurts. To think…I don’t know. To think that he thinks that I can’t see a line between on track and off track…and the way he talked to me…”

Nothing. He waited a few more seconds, expecting the shock to wear off and the discussion to begin, before Alex got to his feet and barreled towards the door.

“I’ll…see you later. I just need to…Sorry…”

Marc slumped back in his seat and felt the anger slowly start to turn itself into hurt, staring blankly at the empty space his brother had just vacated.

_Great._

*

By 9pm, the hurt had created a lot of tears, and it had gone from being hurt at Dani, to hurt at Alex’s reaction, to letting everything snowball into one big lump of horror. _I went there in the first place to get some peace, and it’s just made life so complicated. It’s made everything worse._ He was also worried that his brother was too freaked out by the whole thing, could possibly tell his dad or someone in the team needing to talk about it, and then somehow it would get out.

_And Dani may be ok with that. But I’m not._

One thing that was going round and round in his head was how happy he’d been to finally be at the finish line on the verge of getting some time with his teammate, and then this. Hope that had turned into disappointment wasn’t something he’d ever been able to deal with very well. _I don’t care what people would think. I’m not ashamed. But we wouldn’t be left alone. Ever. The whole reason I went there was because I wanted some PEACE. Why can’t he understand that?! And if he really thinks I would be angry about him beating me…_ He tucked his head in between his knees and sighed. _Then I don’t know what to think._ ‘Just wait a minute, I’m on the way. Impatient as always.’ He could still see Dani’s irritated glance back at him, as though he was a mosquito buzzing around his ear. _So condescending. I’m not a child. I’m impulsive and optimistic and everything else, but I’m not a child. I think things through. I just sometimes come to a different conclusion to him. I live how I want to live. And not just that, but why would somebody want to change someone they loved? He’s good enough for me with all his stern press conference faces and annoying calmness. And why wasn’t he grinning at me and telling_ them _to wait? Do I not come first anymore?_

_Is that selfish? To think I should come first?_

He thought about it for a few seconds and shook his head at the reflection that was staring back at him from the kettle. _No. Because the other way round I would have done that. And the other way round he would come first. And every other time I have come first._

He rubbed his hands under his eyes and got to his feet, slowly feeling that burn come back and realizing that, more than anything, he was very, very angry. And that he wouldn’t be making the first move to sort it out if he was offered 3 Championships and a ton of gold bullion.

*

Dani was aware that a lot of his frustration was nothing to do with Marc, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t all bubbled up as it had. _But nobody’s perfect. Everybody gets angry._ He sighed and downed the last of his champagne from the podium. _And he’s just so 100%. All the time. Too much. Never backs off. Never thinks I might need some space._

_But space from him? Why would he think I want that when I don’t? Why is that even something I’m thinking about?_

Truth was, the thing that had set it all in motion was the discussion they’d had after qualifying. About going public. Dani had hit a brick wall.

_Everything would be easier. We wouldn’t have to hide. It would be crazy for a while but people would accept it. Is he really that bothered about what people think?_

He jumped slightly as someone banged on his door and got up to open it. _Come back for round 2?_ He opened the door expecting to see Marc and found himself staring down at Alex.

“Is it true?!” 

Dani frowned at him and shrugged. “What?”

“He just told me. He just told me that he’s angry and upset at you because you’re… _in a relationship._ Is it true?!”

Dani stared back and wondered where this left them in terms of telling people. “Do you want me to say yes or no?”

Alex glared at him and shrugged his arms in irritation. “The truth.”

“Right. The truth. Yeah. It’s true. And apparently he’s told you. Even though he fucking begged me not to tell anyone…”

Alex turned on his heels and stomped off, leaving Dani scowling dejectedly into empty space.

_Great._


	7. Are You Ok?

Marc pulled on his hoody and stared himself down in the mirror. _No point sitting in here crying about it. Burn it off._

He pulled open the door and stood looking left and right to see if anyone he didn’t want to run into was stood outside. No one was, so he pounded down the steps and started to walk back down towards the garages before pausing as he heard laughter echoing out from another motorhome, looking left trying to see where it was coming from.

Lorenzo. Predictably. The winner, celebrating.

He stood and stared through the window for a few seconds, not really looking, more just vacantly leaving his eyes fixed in one place and letting his mind tick over. He came back to reality as he saw someone wave at him, and felt himself freeze as he realised he might be about to be pulled into a situation he couldn’t be bothered with.

“Marc?!”

The door was now open and Aleix Espargaro was staring at him as though he was standing there butt naked, dragging a corpse.

“Hi…”

“Hi…what are you doing?”

Marc shrugged and realised how tense he was. _That’s another thing that’s happened. Paranoia. So much paranoia. They’re just people. Even if they knew, they probably wouldn’t care._ “Sorry if I was staring…I was just going for a walk around to…cool off…” He cringed as he wondered if Aleix had seen or heard about the Repsol Honda argument. Evidently he had.

“Yeah…I heard you and Dani had a bit of a …fight.”

Marc nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets as he suddenly felt the effects of it now being dark. “Yeah. Stressful race at home, right?” 

Aleix nodded before scowling inside slightly as his brother muscled his way into the other half of the doorway. Pol started the conversation from the start again. 

“Marc!” 

“Hi…” _Again._

“What’s going on?”

Marc sighed and felt his frustration start to bubble back up. “Just out for a walk…”

Pol laughed and nodded, seemingly trying to weigh up how to respond.. “Right…want to come in?”

“I’m ok, thanks. But, enjoy the party.”

Aleix raised his beer in Marc’s direction as he heard Jorge call something, disappearing back inside and leaving Pol staring at Marc, alone.

 _This is weird._ Pol obviously agreed, but neither of them seemed able to break the pause. Eventually the younger Espargaro grinned at him again, all shiny white teeth and California hair, before taking a couple of steps down onto the same level and narrowing his eyes slightly at his old sparring partner.

“Are you ok?”

Marc smiled and nodded as though he found the question funny. “Yeah?!”

Pol’s smile disappeared completely and he shook his head. “Seriously, Marc. I know we’re not exactly friends, but…” He shrugged and his eyes explored Marc’s face. “You don’t seem like you’re very ok.”

Marc stared at him as he tried to think of a response that wouldn’t include the truth, settling for a slightly pathetic shrug. Pol didn’t buy it.

“Come inside for a drink. 5 minutes. Then, if you’re actually ok…I’ll leave you alone. Yeah?”

Marc could feel himself automatically about to say no, before stopping himself and thinking about it properly, realizing how often he automatically said no to everything this year.

_No Dani tonight. What else am I going to do? Fuck it. I don’t have to answer to anyone._

He looked back up at Pol and raised his eyebrows. “Really? Why are you being nice?”

“I am nice.” Pol fake glared at him slightly before manhandling him inside, all eyes then turning on the visitor, silence falling quickly. Marc raised his hands in fake surrender and grinned.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe. I’m not here to overtake you.”

A nervous but appreciative laugh echoed around the room. _Remember, that’s who I was before I was the one who immediately disappeared with my teammate._ He accepted a beer from a curious-looking but happy enough Jorge Lorenzo before catching Pol’s eyes again from across the room. His fellow Catalonian raised his bottle in a cheers and smiled at him. Marc smiled back and nodded slightly.

_This is surprisingly better._

*

Marc squinted at the ceiling as he heard the knock again. _Please go away._ It echoed again, and groaned as he dragged himself out of bed and over to the door. “Hello?”

Alex. Looking sheepish. “Morning…”

Marc folded his arms and stared down at him. “Morning.”

“Can I come in?” Alex then noticed his brother’s attire and his eyes widened. “Dani’s not here, is he?!”

Marc felt his eyes widen as he looked left and right to check no one was going to hear that. “Shhhh! And no, we had a fight, remember.” He moved aside to let his brother in and scowled at him slightly as he flopped down on the sofa. “What do you want?”

“I came to apologise.”

Marc waited for him to say anything else and shrugged at his expectant stare. “Right…?”

“I’m really sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t react better…and I’m sorry I ran off. It was just unexpected and…insane.”

Marc nodded at him to show he’d accepted. “I understand it’s probably a bit weird for you…”

“I could have been more supportive, though…”

“Yeah. You could have.” 

“I’m sorry.”

Marc nodded again and sat down next to him. “Ok.”

Alex smiled and patted his brother’s leg. “So…what’s going on? You had a big fight?”

Marc nodded and tried to pat his hair down. “Yeah. And I’m not apologizing. I didn’t do anything.”

“I…sort of went over there yesterday to ask him if…I don’t know. To see if he’d admit it.”

“Fuck.” Marc sighed and stared at the ceiling. “I made him promise to not tell _anyone_. So he knows you know?”

Alex nodded sheepishly. “Yeah…”

“Fuck.”

“I’m sorry…I didn’t realize…”

“It’s ok, it’s ok. I think he’ll understand…”

Alex smiled hopefully at him as he changed the subject. “So…where did you go last night? I knocked on your door and you weren’t here.”

“Weirdly, I ended up in Jorge’s motorhome with Cal and Ricky Cardús, and the Espargarós…” Marc tried to remember who else had been there. There had been a slightly tipsy kneeground at some point, so maybe Jordi Torres. “And it wasn’t that weird. It was kind of good. It was pretty strange not being with Dani though. But…I don’t know. It was good to do something a bit different.”

“So much makes sense now I know.”

Marc looked sideways at him and frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean…you were always the one stood outside the garage until 10 at night, messing around with remote controlled cars. This season, you’re gone.”

Marc smiled sadly at him and nodded. “I know. I still do those things. I just do them with Dani, in private.”

“Why?”

“Because people would realise. And talk.”

“Why does that matter?”

 _Not you as well._ “Because…”

“Because?”

“Because I can’t stand people knowing. I can’t stand the idea of people swarming around asking questions, taking photographs…it would be huge. There's a difference between fans and attention when you're doing something like the Superprestigio and the journalists who write crap about you.”

Alex nodded and shrugged. “I know, and it would be huge, for a while. But it would get better. And then you could join both halves of your life together. You could go back to being Marc, instead of Dani’s boyfriend.”

Marc’s sharp intake of breath made his brother worry he’d pushed too far, before realizing it was the opposite. “Am I not Marc anymore?!”

“Sometimes…”

The older Marquez got to his feet and poured himself some orange juice. “That’s what I’m worried about. I feel that. Like last night…I was so paranoid at first, as though they’d somehow guess…”

“So tell people.”

“NO.” Marc turned around again and leaned on the fridge. “No. I can’t. The whole…the whole start of this was on New Year’s Eve. Because I needed some peace from this…and Dani gives me that. I just have to live with the downsides.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Wait and see what happens. Wait for him to apologise. Go back to how it was before, if he sorts it out.”

Alex shook his head in defeat and got up, walking back to the door. “Right, ok. If that ever manages to make you happy, let me know.”

Marc’s jaw dropped open and he stared after him, for the second time in 12 hours.

*

Dani did apologise, and it did go back to how it had been before, more or less. But they were both acutely aware of the toll it was taking to see each other every day and not break cover. Dani accepted it wouldn’t change until Marc changed his mind, and Marc resolutely ignored it and covered it with a grin. But it was heading for some sort of breaking point.

At Sachsenring, in first practice, Marc had a huge highside that left him with a serious set of bruises and a dislocated shoulder. Dani watched it on screen and felt himself almost explode as he watched the rear tyre flick him into the air, everything seeming like slow motion, bike following body flying into the gravel. The panic was excruciating, and he couldn’t move. Because a teammate would be concerned, but a teammate wouldn’t cry, or panic, or run out the garage. Marc stayed still on the floor for a couple of seconds and Dani randomly remembered having the same feeling, much reduced, about the same rider, at Jerez a few years ago. Someone had rear ended him and he’d ended up in a pile of CatalunyaCaixa logos in the gravel, obviously alive but not really moving to prove that. _So you were obviously in my consciousness quite early on._ He snapped himself back to reality and convinced his brain to let him watch what was happening now and stop trying to distract him with a situation from the past that had ended with no serious consequences.

The medical team ran over as Marc forced himself up onto his knees and tested himself out, doubling over again slightly as his shoulder shot pain through him. Dani watched and clenched his teeth.

“I think he’s ok.”

He turned round and tried to nod nonchalantly at whoever had said that, before turning back to the screen. Marc was now just about walking away, arm in arm with a marshal. Dani felt his fingernails dig into his palms as he watched him get taken to the medical center, not get onto a scooter to come back to the box.

Someone motioned at him to say he was going to be going out there in 2 minutes. Dani took a deep breath and made sure he was sure about his reply. _There is no way._

“No. Sorry. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

He turned and darted through the back of the garage before anyone could ask why or what was happening, and grabbed a scooter from out the back.

_If he’s absolutely fine, he might be pretty angry about the scene._

He set off through the paddock and tried to ignore the glances he was getting.

_But that’s tough. When something like that happens, this is what I have to do. So be angry, fine. They’ll be questions and weird looks. But there’s a difference between keeping a secret and ignoring something like this._

He stopped and saw Marc being taken through the door up ahead to the left, accidentally and automatically yelling at them to stop. Marc and the person helping him turned round, the younger HRC rider’s eyes widening to fever pitch as he set eyes on Dani. Dani ignored him.

“Are you ok?”

The marshal frowned at Dani like he was insane, evidently perfectly aware of who he was and why it was a little bit strange that he was there. Marc’s eyes widened at him further and he tried to shrug at him to ask him what the fuck he was doing, before the pain it obviously caused made him grimace. Dani moved a step closer. “Are you ok?” _Just answer the question._

“I think I’ve pulled my shoulder out, but everything else seems ok.” Gritted teeth. Pain or anger?

Dani nodded and tried to keep his tone as neutral as his teammate, like an irritated businessman chairing a meeting. _Or a parent who was angry at what the kid did, before concern took over._ “Head?”

“Didn’t hit it. Helmet’s fine.” Anger.

“Right.”

They stood there in silence for a second before Dani realised that had to be his cue to leave. He nodded at Marc and turned around as though it was completely normal, trundling back down to his garage and pulling on his helmet and gloves before anyone could start any sort of serious conversation with him.

_That’s going to be interesting, later._

He sat on the bike and eased down the pit lane. 

_But I'd do it again._


	8. Told Ya

He knew that some people would have found it touching, running to check he was ok. And part of him did, or certainly would have done if he’d been seriously hurt. But he got a quick check over and they popped his shoulder back in and sent him on his way.

_I was walking around. I was obviously pretty much fine._

By the time Dani knocked on his door that evening, he was absolutely incandescent with blind, hysterical rage. Because he’d spent the day convincing himself that Dani had done it so that people might guess, or ask. Using the injury as a cover for his real intent: getting it out in the open. He opened the door and glared down at his teammate.

“What?”

Dani recoiled slightly at his tone. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine, thank you. No problem. Nothing wrong.”

“Good…”

The older rider was obviously waiting for an invite inside. _You’re not getting one._ “Yeah. No thanks to your idea of subtlety.”

“I know, sorry. I was worried.”

Marc nodded at him sarcastically, irritated even more by his lack of understanding at how risky it had been. “I was obviously fine. You know what I think? I think you saw a chance to make people question why you cared so much and decided to try and force my hand.”

Dani stood and stared at him, mouth open. “What?!”

“Yeah, I do. But I’ve already explained why I won’t tell people. And you won’t stop pushing. Every week, there’s always something. I said NO.”

Dani stared at him and shook his head, unsure as to whether he was more hurt or disappointed. Marc could see the battle on his face and suddenly felt the blind hysteria start to dissipate and the idea of having got it wrong, all wrong, inched its way forward in his mind. “Yeah, I want to tell people, fine. But if you really think that…really? I don’t know what to say.”

“You can’t blame me…”

“Yeah, I can, actually. And I will. Have a good race, Marc. And a good summer break.”

The older HRC rider turned and started to walk away as his teammate felt the anger hit him again like a brick wall. “Do not walk away like that.” Warning.

Dani wafted a hand at him and refused to turn around. “I’ll do what I want.”

“DON’T.”

He turned and finally stopped. “What?”

Marc fidgeted on the threshold and shrugged at him desperately. “Are you leaving?”

“You mean, am I leaving you?”

Marc nodded and felt a stab of panic hit him in the chest.

“Probably not. But we need some space.”

*

Indianapolis 

“He’s looking a bit worse for wear.” Scott downed the rest of his beer and pointed out the swaying figure of his old nemesis over the other side of the room. “I feel like we should do something about it.”

“Like what?!” Tito shrugged at him and looked nonplussed. “Not our problem.”

“But look at him.”

They watched as Marc downed another two shots in quick succession and the girls around him fluttered even more.

“He’s just celebrating.”

“He’s not celebrating. Other people would be here.” Scott cracked open another beer and realised the slight irony, although he wasn’t in the market for paralytic drunkenness. “He’s commiserating. No one drinks that much unless they want to forget about something.” 

“So let him forget.”

“But then, you know…journalists will have a party on it. One of those girls will definitely fuck him over…”

“And?”

“Doesn’t feel right.”

“Since when do you care?”

“Since Penny publicly humiliated me.”

“Ah.”

They watched as Marc broke away from the group and headed for the bathroom, soon followed by a brunette in an extremely low cut top.

The Gresini rider and his Marc VDS replacement looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

“Too late now.”

*

He’d forgotten what he’d done until he was sat fully upright. Then it hit him.

_Oh God._

He instinctively looked down at the other side of the bed to check she hadn’t followed him home.

Empty.

Slight relief hit him before he started panicking again.

_Oh God._

*

Brno

It could have been swept under the rug. But it wasn’t. Scott picked up the magazine with interest and studied the page. _Told ya._

Marc Marquez and mystery brunette party all night!

As articles went, it could have been worse. Scott kept sipping his tea as he skimmed through it. It had come from her, that much was fairly obvious. Too much _accurate_ detail about the night to have come from anywhere else.

_Told ya._


	9. A una carta...

Marc had been told about it by Alex, and found a copy of it in the hospitality. It wasn’t too bad. Or it wouldn’t have been, if he wasn’t in a serious, secret long term relationship. But he was. Or, he hoped he still was. He’d never felt that level of panic, regret and embarrassment before.

He’d tried to call, and texted, and banged on Dani’s door. No response. Eventually he saw him walking down the pit lane and back to his motorhome and followed him, hoping to corner him. He did, and he stood there in silence as he watched his teammate implode in front of him, not daring to say anything until Dani had been alternately crying and yelling for at least 5 minutes. 

Eventually silence fell and Marc filled it.

“No, I know. I know…” His voice got quieter as he watched Dani stand there, hopelessly staring at him. “I know. Everything you’ve said; I know. I know how it must feel. Well, no…I KNOW how it feels. I know what it’s like.”

The silence continued for a few seconds as the other Honda rider seemed to start to calm down, the shaking and clenching of his fists replaced by strange, still calm.

“If you knew, you wouldn’t have done it. Get out.”

Marc shook his head and stood his ground, panic starting to claw at him. “Please, come on. We need to ta-“

“I don’t want to talk to you. Or see you. Or even hear about you, until this-“ The smaller rider pounded a fist against his chest, “-even starts to feel like it might work again. So GO. Get. OUT.”

Marc started to try and stammer a response and felt his eyes well up. _Oh my God._ “No, Dani…please…please Dani…I love you.” He was starting to get desperate. “Please, Dani. Don’t.”

“Don’t? Don’t what? Don’t make you feel bad about it? Don’t tell you how I feel? Hmm? Is that what you want me to do?” 

Marc shrugged dejectedly, feeling any possible scenario in which he didn’t have to leave evaporate. “I…How can I take it away…? What can I do? I would do anything, I WILL do anything if you just-“

“That’s the whole point. You can’t take it away. It just shows what I worried about all along. You like having someone to make you feel better. You just take.” He stared back at Marc, unflinching, teeth gritted and voice shaky. “But you know something? If you’d come in here _the day after_ and said ‘I did this. And it’s killing me. But I want to be honest because I love you…’ That maybe I could have dealt with. I’ve made mistakes and I know how easy it is to walk into situations you can’t get out of. But you…you’ve just come here because you had no choice! So just fucking go.”

Marc nodded and tried to clench his jaw together to stop anything escaping. “O..Ok.” 

Dani was suddenly wrestling him towards the door, committed to what he’d said about the younger rider leaving. Marc found himself roughly shut outside, the sound of the lock proving the final bullet point in the conversation.

He wandered the few steps to his own door and let himself inside softly, closing the door and collapsing onto the bed.

_What have I done?_

*

He’d written it all down. One good thing about a letter is that it can’t be interrupted. A bad thing is that they never have to read it to the end. But Dani did. He read it to the end, then screwed it up and threw it in the bin. In the HRC hospitality. And got out of bed at midnight in a blind panic to run and get it back, which he did. He was pretty sure it hadn’t been unscrewed.

He then read it again. He was feeling calmer. He wasn’t angry any more, he was just upset. So he read it and really took it in.

It covered everything and was covered in crossings out and misspellings that had been corrected. It went from turning up in Geneva, the month after, it went through the fight in Catalunya, Alex’s reaction, the crash and Dani going to the medical center, how he’d felt after that and why, how he’d felt after a few days of Dani’s cooling off, after a few weeks, what had happened in Indianapolis, why he hadn’t immediately gone and told Dani, and finally, why he had never ever wanted to let it out in public. Everything.

Dani was surprised by the first bit. Marc had wanted to see him in Geneva for some space, yes. But he hadn’t looked for refuge somewhere quiet, as Dani had started to convince himself. What it said was ‘peace could have been in the middle of the Rambla on a summer’s day, if you were there it would still be what I was looking for’. That was nice. He had an annoying way with words.   
He described how the fight in Catalunya still bothered him, not because he hadn’t forgiven, but because he worried about why it had happened and the way Dani had sometimes still acted like that. How he hated the way he’d spoken to him and how he felt he sometimes got treated like a kid, how everything he worried Dani saw as immature was always a conscious decision to not care what people thought, to live how he wanted when he wanted to. ‘At 80, I don’t think anybody looks back and wishes they had made less of their time.’ How Alex’s reaction had scared him and hurt him and made him think about everyone else in the world suddenly being told the same thing and what it would be like. He also said Alex had told him they should go public because it would never make him happy as long as he couldn’t have Dani and everything else. He said part of him agreed with that, but that he’d put Dani before anything else he could think of that he may want as well and tried to carry on. He said he didn’t enjoy having to compromise either. Then it got to the crash. He said he was thinking more and more how he shouldn’t have reacted as harshly as he did, but that equally they’d talked about moments like that and agreed what they would do and Dani had gone against that. He said that the pressure of Dani always talking about telling people just got to him too much and he hated being backed into a corner and he was too fired up after hitting the floor to think anything through other than focusing on that worry. He said that he hadn’t understood why Dani couldn’t accept that he came in a package, a package that included not telling anybody. He said that watching Dani walk away had been the worst moment of his life until he then threw him out of his motorhome for good, and said that he wished he’d followed him and begged him and screamed at him not to give them any space, and that if he’d had less pride and not cared about people seeing, he would have. He said he’d learned that lesson and that it was the second biggest mistake he’d ever made. He said the biggest was obvious. He talked about how he didn’t really know what he was doing for the few weeks after, and how he’d been dragged to a bar by some of the team. He lost them some time after and ended up in a crowd of strangers and drank, drank too much. He went to the bathroom, and a girl followed him. He didn’t resist it, but he didn’t want Dani to think he’d gone out with the intention of anything like that happening. He wanted Dani to know that he would never do it again, and that he’d not said anything because he thought if he protected them from everything ‘then his loosening grip on the situation wouldn’t let go completely.’ How honesty was something he’d failed at more than once, because he’d not been honest with himself about how much it meant to him to keep Dani. More than keeping the secret any more. And how ‘sex with a stranger is only as intimate as saying hello to someone you love’. 

Dani sat and stared at the ceiling and decided it was time to honestly assess the situation. Not just be angry or hurt or get too wrapped up in anything, just sit there and imagine his life with or without.

O uno o el otro.

A una carta.


	10. Goodnight, Babychamp

Marc had already rolled his dice the moment he’d realised that he still had one last ace. Because he knew that he could forgive Dani in reverse, if he could be shown that it truly was a _mistake_ and not proof of anything else. And he was 93% sure that was true for his teammate, too. And it was a good ace. The biggest. The start of all the tiny niggling problems that occurred when you are a World Champion in a gay relationship with your teammate and tabloid-shy.

He had given him the letter and hoped he’d read it. Because he felt like he needed that extra explanation before he got hit with this, so it didn’t seem like a cheap attempt to get him back, so Dani understood how big it was.

_There’s only one thing I can do._

Marc sat still and kept throwing the ball against the wall of his motorhome, catching it as it rebounded.

_There is only one thing that will prove to him how much I love him._

Marc had always been the one saying no, saying we can’t, begging Dani to not be upset that he wanted it to stay private, trying to convince him that it meant nothing that he didn’t want to go public. But he knew, and Dani knew, that it had meant something. It meant that his want for privacy had beaten his teammate’s want for freedom. 

_So there’s only one thing to do. And if it backfires, it will be the absolute end of the road._

He threw the ball a few more times before stopping and staring at the wall as he thought it through.

_I made a mistake. I made a horrible, drunken mistake. And I’d almost convinced myself it didn’t happen. But it did. And she told you._

He felt his eyes well up again and shook his head to try and keep himself under control.

_I lied because I knew how it would feel. People make mistakes, and I understand what you said. I would have been the same. But I thought that if we stayed cushioned from everything, I’d never have to deal with it. I’d be able to take the guilt for myself and not share the hurt._

He sat up and pulled out his phone to text the right person for the job.

_Weird question. You know how Casey announced his retirement and it was a normal press conference…If I had something to announce, should I do it like that or do a private one? Would that be weird? (I’m not retiring haha)_

He sat back and continued throwing and catching. _Now, does it feel better because I think this plan will work? Or does it feel better because I at least have something to cling on to?_ His chest suddenly felt like it was about to implode. _It could fail. It really could fail. And then he’s gone._

The amount of panic was like a shot of adrenaline. His phone buzzed in his pocket.

HM: _Ok…you’re worrying me here. But…depends what it is? Is it personal or paddock? Because it depends whether you want to be captive with the journalists for as long as you have to be…and also other riders sat there?_

Marc read the sensibly inquisitive but non-pushy response and flipped his phone through his fingers trying to weigh it up. _Other riders._ He typed his response out quickly and pressed send before second guessing himself. _Ok…I’m not telling anyone what it is! But I think private. I might want to escape from it. Also, don’t want certain people to be there._

HM: _Right…still worried. But I can arrange that if you want?_

_Please. And don’t be worried. If you’re the friend I think you are, you don’t need to be worried ;) and your job is safe haha! In fact, you’ll be BUSY!_

HM: _Oooooh god. Can I guess? Because I think I know…_

 _NO._ He pressed send then typed another message. _Really?_

A few seconds pause was cut short by the vibration of his phone. 

HM: _Yeah. Is he ok with it?_

Marc’s heart flipped as he stared at the message. He took a few gulps of air into his lungs before responding. 

_Not sure whether to gamble on you actually knowing what you’re talking about…_

HM: _Dani?_

Marc bit his lip and nodded at his silent partner in conversation. 

_Yes. Dani. And me. I’m going to go public. Well, about myself. And…it’s complicated._

HM: _But he’s forgiven you?_

_No. But I was the one saying I didn’t want to go public and I know that hurt him. I’m praying the gesture will pay off…_

HM: _FUCK. Really?_

_Yeah?_

HM: _And if it backfires?_

_I’ll quit the paddock and go and be a farmer._

HM: _Be serious._

_Fine. I don’t know. But…I don’t know what else to do. It’s way worse not having him than keeping it secret. I’ve made my mind up. So organize it. Please._

HM: _On the record, I think it’s a big deal to just use as a gesture. But ok, I’ll do it. Next race?_

_Thanks. Yeah. Thursday._

HM: _Consider it done. And please, please think about it. Make sure you’re sure. Goodnight, babychamp._

Marc smiled at the sign off and let his fingers respond for him. _Yeah yeah. Goodnight._

He threw the ball again and finally felt a tiny bit of the weight on his shoulders start to lift as he did some quick maths.

_108 hours left._

He sat up fully and decided he was going to pre-empt it with a couple of people. Well, his parents. He dialed the number and listened to the sleepy ‘hello’.  


“Hi. Are you awake?” _Please pretend you were._

_Yeah, we’re awake. Are you ok?_

“I’m fine. I need to talk to you. Can I come down?”

_Always. Do you want me to make a drink?_

Marc felt his breath catch in his throat as the simple _thought_ warmed him up. _Parents: always care._ “Thanks. Decaf pleaaassseee…”

_Ok, see you in a minute._

Marc cancelled the call and gave himself a quick pep talk in the mirror. _Here we go…_

He suddenly got hit with the memory of that first cup of coffee that Dani had handed him, in the kitchen in Geneva, months ago. 

_Maybe it’s not parents who always care. It’s just people who love you._


	11. I Didn't Go For Switzerland

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I keep changing some of the tags and intended characters, I keep changing my mind ;)

There had been outrage, and if they hadn’t been awake when Marc arrived they certainly were by the time he’d said his little speech. It wasn’t the bisexuality, or, if Marc was honest, homosexuality, that caused any of it. It was the fact that a) he hadn’t told them sooner and b) he was going to announce it. He didn’t mention Dani, until they got to the question he’d been trying to avoid.

“So…you’ve obviously met somebody who made you discover this…”

Marc sat there and stared at them and wondered how much to say. The thing that kept distracting his mind was the fact that he wasn’t looking for any sort of approval. It felt strange but good. He honestly didn’t care what they thought, because he didn’t have a choice about it. He was simply there to give them information and maybe earn some foot soldiers for the battle he could feel was probably going to come as soon as he announced it.

“Yes. I’ve been in a relationship for a while…”

Julia stared at his son and frowned. “But Indianapolis…did the girl lie?”

Marc shook his head and grimaced slightly. Here, he did care what they thought, because this was a question of character, not nature. “No. She told the truth. I made a very very drunken mistake, because the person I was…am…well, was…with…it wasn’t going well and I was just…hurt. And that’s…why I’ve decided to go public.”

“Oh.” He waited for his son to explain more and nothing appeared. “Come on, stop trying to avoid it. Just tell us. You know we’ll support you, but you need to be honest. If you’re going to announce this – which by the way I still think is unbelievably stupid – I don’t want to get caught out. You’re in a relationship with someone…or you were…for a long time?” 

Marc nodded. “Almost 9 months, until I did that.”

“Right. Since January?!” 

“January the first.”

Something suddenly clicked and his parents looked at each other. 

Marc nodded at them in confirmation. “When I went to Geneva…I didn’t go for Switzerland. I went for Dani.”

His dad let out a whoosh of air and sat back slightly. “Dani.”

“Yeah. Dani.”

Silence. His mum seemed to feel the slightly raised tension in her husband and took over. “So you were with Dani…and you cheated on him.”

Marc gulped and nodded.

“And now you feel you have to announce it.”

Another nod. “It’s…Dani doesn’t mind it being public. Dani wanted it to be public. I kept saying no because I didn’t want to go through all the questions and attention…I mean, that’s why I went there in the first place. For some peace. But…I seriously messed up. And I have nothing left to show him how much I care.”

His dad shook his head dismissively and got to his feet. “So Dani was trying to bully you into telling people and you made a mistake, and now you’re going to give in to him.”

Marc frowned up at him and shook his head. “No! It’s not like that. It’s…He’s that important. And it’s been so hard keeping it secret. I wouldn’t announce it for fun, but I’m ok with it. It’s worth it. If I had something else, I’d give that. I’d probably retire if it would make a differ-“

“Don’t be stupid.”

Marc stood up. “I’m not being stupid. LISTEN. This isn’t some game or joke or just me experimenting…I love him, and I’d do anything for him.”

They stared at each other, eye to eye as his mum stood up to be ready to step in with calming effects if needed. His dad suddenly took a deep breath and his shoulders slumped slightly, defeated in his argument but accepting in his tone. “You’re serious.”

“Dead serious. It’s been 9 months. I told him I loved him after a few days, and I mean it now even more than I meant it then. There’s been something there since the first time I met him. And you’ve seen the way I’m riding this year. I’ve crashed _once_. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Marc felt himself enveloped in a three person hug and let himself relax.

_Step 1 done._

*

Silverstone

Dani had heard about the press conference on the Wednesday. Someone in the team had mentioned it. He had no idea what his teammate was planning on announcing, but it had left him slightly irritated as he realised that it probably meant something big, and that Marc would be harder to track down to talk to. Because he did want to talk to him. He wanted to look him in the eye to check that Marc still looked at him in the same way he had when he’d thrown him out. 

_Looks like it will have to wait._

*

“You’re announcing something later?”

Valentino fell into step beside the younger Repsol Honda rider and Marc faltered slightly. “Yeah…?”

“You’re very brave.”

“You don’t know what it is!”

Valentino laughed and put an arm round his shoulder. “Oh, really?”

“Well…no. You don’t.” Marc bumped his hip against the Italian legend and grinned at him as he got a smack on the arm in return.

“You think I’ve watched you sneaking out of that motorhome all this time and not worked it out?”

They screeched to a halt and Marc’s eyes widened. “Shhhh! And…well…yeah, ok. Maybe _you_ worked it out.” _I knew it._

“So is it about you, today? Or both of you?”

“Just me.” 

“The story with the girl…?”

“Exactly.” Marc sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I fucked up. So…here we are. He always wanted to tell people and he hated that I wouldn’t. So I thought if I did this…it’d prove that I mean it when…” He trailed off as he realised how cheesy confessing his love may sound. 

Valentino nodded, thoughtfully staring down at him. “But you tried other things?”

“I begged and called and sent messages and I wrote a letter. I don’t know if he read it, but this is my final card.”

“You know it’s going to go crazy.”

Marc nodded and swallowed, hard. “I know.”

Vale looked up as he saw his teammate approaching and smiled and nodded as Lorenzo pointed back down towards Yamaha. “Well. I’m needed. I should go…but good luck. You’ve got serious balls. And if you need somewhere to get a break…just let me know. Misano next. You can come to the ranch or stay with me for a while…no problem.”

Marc felt like he wanted to hug him. “Thanks.” He didn’t.

“No problem.” Valentino gave the younger rider’s shoulder a squeeze and set off in pursuit of Jorge. “Good luck.”

*

“You want to go to see what’s going on with Marc?”

Dani snapped his eyes up to meet his mechanic’s and frowned. “Would that be weird?”

“I’m curious. Aren’t you?”

“Yeah.” _Very._ “But it’s a press conference. We’re not press.”

“I bet we could get in though.”

 _We probably could. But would that put him off?_ Dani rolled his eyes at himself as he realised he was, again, thinking about Marc, Marc and only Marc. _No matter how much he hurt you, you’ve not thought about revenge once. Admit it._ “Yeah. Ok. But I don’t want him to see us.”

“Ok..?” 

“Just…don’t want to put any pressure on. Other riders there…who knows what he’s going to say.” 

“Right, ok fine. Let’s go then. Get in first, sit at the back…”

Dani nodded and followed. 

_Sounds like a plan._


	12. All In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote it and re-wrote it and re-wrote it and changed it so many times, this is what it ended up as. I'm not very good at 'big moments'...but still. Enjoy. :) Hopefully!!

He sat and stared into the expectant gazes of those who had gathered to hear whatever it was he was going to say. This had sounded a lot easier when he’d planned it out; now it seemed like the worst idea in the world and his dad’s words echoed in his head. _Stupid!_ He took a few breaths as he realised the point of no return was approaching; this was it. And then he’d know if Dani would forgive him. _Dani._ He felt the nerves get themselves under control as he reminded himself why he was doing it. _Dani._

“So…you’re probably wondering why I organized this…” Marc could feel his heart hammering and wondered why he was talking to them like they were his friends, or board members, but carried on anyway. “And it’s because I have something personal to announce. Normally things like this wouldn’t be announced in this way, but I wanted to say it myself, in my own words. It’s wrong and strange that something like this should have to be announced like this but still. I’m sure you’ll understand why.”

Dani, sat at the back, suddenly felt his mouth go dry as the possibility crossed his mind. _No way. Surely._

“Where to start...well, I’ve been in a relationship with someone since the start of this season...”

The older HRC rider felt his heart start to pound. _Oh my God. He’s actually going to do it. Just him? Or both of us? Does he know I’m here?!_

“And I don’t want to live in secret anymore, so I want everyone to know that I was in a relationship with a man. So that’s why I organized this. I’m announcing that I’m gay.” 

A few seconds of silence.

Dani’s head started to spin. He could feel his eyes start to well up slightly and desperately tried to blink it back, gritting his teeth and shaking his head, trying to convince himself that was totally in control of the situation. He understood exactly what it meant for Marc to sit there and say it. And not to just tweet it or casually let it out, but to put himself in front of a room of journalists and say it, face to face. To give up his peace.

 _There is a phrase for this. It’s ‘bowled over’._

He heard the muttering and talking start in the pack in front of him and leaned out from his aisle seat on the end of the back row to get a glimpse of his teammate, just a split second glance to check how he looked. Marc seemed calm enough, but Dani could see his nervous fidgeting, small line of sweat on his brow, normally focused eyes slightly more ragged than normal, waiting waiting waiting for the first question or comment.

_He doesn’t know I’m here._

Dani stared at the back of the head of whoever was in front of him and calmly made himself breathe in and out. _That’s it. Done. So much thought about whether I could really trust you again, and you've hit me with the greatest thing anyone has ever done for me._ He took a deep breath before leaning out again, cocking his head to one side, raising his right hand briefly to see if the movement caught the younger rider’s attention. Marc was about to launch into an answer to some stupidly inane question before he caught it out the corner of his eye and froze. The words faded from his lips and his head slowly swiveled back to center as he checked if he was right in what he thought he’d seen. 

Their eyes locked together. Dani smiled at him slightly as they managed that familiar trick of people who know each other well, and love each other: the knowing, silent conversation. _I’m here. You’re here! I can’t believe you did this. You understand why? Yes, and we're ok. You mean that? I mean that._

A few journalists sat around Dani followed Marc’s line of sight and turned to look at his teammate. The seconds ticked on. Dani felt himself start to smile, then grin, nodding at Marc as he saw the relief flood over him, breaking the eye contact to briefly smile at the other gazes staring at him, motioning them to look back at Marc, shrugging as though he had no idea why anyone was looking at him.

Marc coughed and kept his eyes trained on Dani as he seemed to be trying to ask him if he could go further, explain everything. Dani realised quite how brave his teammate was being as the first stab of nerves at being involved hit him in the chest. _This is harder than it looks, public honesty._

He nodded and turned both palms upwards in a happy shrug. _Up to you._

Marc looked like he was about to explode with glee and relief. “Actually, I am in a relationship with a man at the moment. It’s been 9 months now, and I thought it was time to let it out in the open because I want to celebrate with him and share my life in public with him, and we don’t want to have to leave the paddock anymore to do that. We shouldn’t have to.”

The brains of the journalists ticked through that and all started to come to the same conclusion: Marc Marquez hadn’t suddenly had a new friend turn up in the paddock. Nothing had changed, on the outside. So it was someone who’d already been there.

_Who?_

Somebody got impatient and Marc tried to pick out the heckler, before smiling knowingly and raising his eyebrows, completely in control now he’d seen Dani, was back on track with Dani, and was feeling the stress of the first few minutes wear off. Wunderkind Marquez was back, sparkly eyes, default smile, engaged with the people he was talking to, calm under pressure but not boring with it. Never boring. Controlled, until he was completely uncontrolled, ripping Dani’s shirt buttons open with one hand and tearing open his jeans with the other… Dani tried to snap back to the moment and focus as he watched him regain control of the room. _I knew I missed him, and was missing him. But maybe I really didn’t know how much._ Marc carried on.

“Someone in the paddock.”

_Another rider?_

There was a faint laugh from the crowd as they dispelled that notion as ridiculous, before Marc bent forward slightly to the microphone and leant a slight edge to his tone, almost a carbon copy of his reaction to Jorge’s speech about the ‘show’. _Why so unbelievable?_

“Yes, another rider.”

A wave of almost controlled uproar ripped through the crowd and Dani felt a few people turn back to him. _You think this was planned and I’m not here because I was as curious as you._ He smiled back and nodded, enjoying the eyes widening and brains whirring, wondering if they’d yelp their supicions immediately or let Marc continue his teasing of those at the front. They stayed quiet.

“Actually, I think he’s here.” 

Another round of talking and looking around to try and spot who it might be, before Dani finally took one last deep breath and got to his feet, starting the long walk down the aisle of chattering curious faces, each successive row reacting with gasps or murmurs or comments, even a couple of Spanish fangirl squeals. He kept his eyes focused on his teammate, resolutely refusing to be drawn on it until he got to the front. Marc just sat there, beaming at him.

_It worked, it worked, it worked._

Dani got to the front and nodded his thanks as Hector pulled up a chair for him next to Marc. He clapped his teammate on the back as he sat down, not wanting to create too much of a show, but needing more than anything to feel some sort of contact with him. And needing to reassure him that he was all in. Then he finally had to raise his eyes and look at the wall of people.

He stared at them for a split second before he felt a nervous smile creep onto his face. “Hi...”

 _9 months, French changing room sex, one painful crash, a big public fight, one wayward brunette and a smug Scott Redding and all I've got to say about it is 'Hi.'_ Marc laughed affectionately to his left and squeezed his knee under the table.

Then it erupted.


	13. Promise?

“I’m not joking, if you don’t want anyone to know you’re here, you’re going to have to hide better.”

“Fine.” Marc glared affectionately and hunkered down in the backseat, pulling the blanket over himself in a bid to escape. “You know, it’s nice of you to help and everything but you don’t have to be such a control freak.”

Vale laughed as Marc heard the indicator noise start and they obviously pulled out onto the road. Now being a world champion, he was used to attention. But since the press conference, he had had to fight for enough space around himself to even let his lungs expand enough to breathe. He’d expected insane, he hadn’t expected it would be quite like it was. And it was all on him, somehow. As if Dani was understandable to them, but him?! Unbelievable! Luckily, although being a world champion had its perks, being Valentino Rossi had way more. So he’d called a few people and Marc had been picked up from Silverstone heliport at 6pm on the Sunday, along with Dani, having narrowly, AGAIN, been too eager on the last lap and allowed Lorenzo enough space to get him. But that wasn’t important. The championship was only a few points apart between him, Lorenzo and Pedrosa, and Marc had one more win. So he could let that go, and hopefully this time learn from it. They’d said goodbye at Heathrow at 5 o clock in the morning, when there wasn’t a crowd, and Dani had gone back to Geneva. Marc had accepted the offer to go to Tavullia and lock himself behind the extremely heavy gates of Casa Rossi.

“I have a surprise for you at the ranch.”

He didn’t know Valentino really well, but he did know enough to feel a slight shiver of pantomime fear as those words sunk in. “Right…”

“Don’t sound so worried!” The Italian laughed mischievously and Marc felt the car slow down, evidently reaching the motorway. He heard Vale scratching around for something and a string of expletives in his native language that Marc just about understood, before the kerfuffle ended with a grunted, ‘fucking telepass.’ The car reversed and honked at someone or something behind it and was wrestled to the right. The window went down, and Vale greeted whoever was in the toll booth window.

Marc understood odd words from their side, such as ‘telepass’, ‘autostrada’ ‘perché’, but mostly could hear the attendant calmly imploding at the fact that Valentino Rossi was talking to him, and the champion was slightly irritated. Eventually it all ended in many grazie’s and Marc waited until they’d pulled away to pop up slightly.

“What happened there?!”

“Uccio always takes the telepass and he doesn’t give it back.”

Marc giggled at the normality of it. “Ah, so you paid?”

“I don’t have money with me. So I went to the window and I explained and he realised who I was so he let me through for free.” Another conspiratorial laugh. “And I gave him a cap.”

Marc laughed and yanked the blanket off himself. “You get a lot of stuff for free?”

Valentino nodded and widened his eyes at the younger rider in the rearview mirror. “Oh, yeah.”

Marc laughed again and stared out at the inky black Italian countryside, no longer needing to hide. _Probably a silly question._ “So…how long until we get there??”

“Maybe around one hour. You want music?”

Marc nodded and tried to judge the size of the gap between the two front seats. “Would you think I was being stupid if I tried to climb in the front?” _ie without stopping_.

Vale took a quick look back over his shoulder and shook his head as if the poor by hadn’t understood anything. “We’re in Italy. If you can keep your ass out of my face, do what you want.”

Marc laughed and stuck one leg through. “Think I can manage that.”

“If you can’t, I’ll return the favour.”

Marc concentrated on squeezing through and eventually untangled himself into a sitting position. “Promise?”

Vale raised an eyebrow at him and wagged a finger. _He’s the only one who still makes jokes like that with me. Now everyone thinks I’ll immediately jump on them if they mess around…_ A few moments of comfortable silence hung in the air before Marc leant forward and picked up Vale’s Ipod.

“So, music?”

The Italian nodded waved his hand to signal that Marc could choose what he wanted. The younger rider peered down at the screen and started scrolling through. _Wow he has bad taste._

Valentino studied him for a split second and then looked the opposite way out the window. _That switch. Between happy go lucky and concentration. Instantly._ “You’re a brave kid.”

“Am I a kid?”

Vale laughed and shrugged. “When I say that, I mean it in a good way. Stay that way as long as you can. People telling you to grow up only want to make you easier to manage.”

_Woah._ “I-I know.” He studied the older rider and then stared back at the white line disappearing in front of them. “I mean…about the growing up thing. I don’t know if I’m…brave?”

Vale nodded and checked the mirrors to turn off. “I know. And…yeah, you are. It’s easier today, but I wouldn’t have dared do what you and Dani have. In a relationship with a man…going public…” He took a deep breath and pretended that pulling out again onto an empty motorway was very taxing, trying to keep his voice nonchalant. “I mean…I didn’t. And then it was too late.”

Marc felt his heart start to hammer. _Did Valentino Rossi just tell me he was in a relationship with a man?!_

Vale cleared his throat and looked at Marc again, spark back in his eyes and nervousness covered up again. “To prove my point: if you tell anyone I said that, I will kill you.”

Marc grinned at him and shrugged as though he hadn’t decided yet. “No problem.” He picked a song and adjusted the volume so it was just background music. “But you’d have to catch me first.”

The italian shook his head and tutted. “Like I said, you’re brave.” His eyes shone at the audacity as he laughed, suddenly cranking the music up to ear splitting noise. “OR STUPID.”

*

“Surprise!” Vale whipped of the blindfold and Marc’s jaw dropped open.

Dani. Dani was the surprise.

“Wh…What?! I thought you were going home?!”

His teammate nodded and pointed as his bag. “I never said how long for…”

Marc looked between his teammate and his host and grinned before wrapping his teammate in a hug and burying his head in the crook of his neck. “You’re here.”

Dani nodded against him and met Valentino’s gaze over his shoulder, mouthing a quick ‘grazie’ and smiling as the Italian backed out of the room and shut the door gently behind himself.

“I am.” Marc held on for longer than he expected, perfectly still, and not out of lust or just happiness, something else. “Are you ok?”

Marc’s head nodded and brushed his hair against his teammate’s ear, still clinging on. “Hmm.”

“Hey, come on.” Dani pulled away slightly and stared at Marc’s face, eyes closed, slight smile. His chest was heaving. “Are you ok?”

He finally opened his eyes and nodded, leaning forward slightly and resting his forehead against his teammate’s. “I’m ok.”

“Tough few days?”

Infinitesimal nod. “Exactly.” 

“It will calm down.”

Another tiny nod; eyes closed again. Small, tiny voice. “Will it?”

Dani took hold of his head and pressed his lips against his forehead. “It will. I promise it will. And when it does, we’re going to have everything we wanted. I promise.”

Marc’s hands wrapped around Dani’s wrists and pulled his arms down, winding his fingers through his teammate’s and feeling the weight lifting from his shoulders slightly. “That’s a big promise.”

“It’s true.” Dani grinned and squeezed his hands, signaling that the dwelling on of problems was over. “So…are you tired, hungry, thirsty?”

“All of those. Shower. Food. Sleep.”

Dani nodded and started undoing his buttons. 

“Better get started then..”


	14. Desde dentro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FLUFFY, at least a bit. Depends on how you take it. Last real chapter.

“You know what?”

Marc suddenly stopped dancing and stared at Valentino.

“What?!”

He had to yell to be heard above the music. “I don’t care anymore!” He laughed and danced away and back over to Dani.

Vale smiled at him and shook his head at the sight before him. _About what?!_ He’d thought the things he’d seen immediately after Valencia had been ‘Marc letting go’, but this was another level. It had started innocently enough and no one was certifiably drunk, but Marc had decided that he was going to completely and utterly ignore any and everything that could be considered embarrassing, and just…live. He’d jumped in the pool, naked, which had left Dani with a redder face than Marc, for some reason. He’d made cocktails reasonably successfully: only 2 had hit the floor. He’d then found some horrific old dance workout DVD in the cupboard that Vale hoped to God he hadn’t bought, and managed to get a few other people to actually take part, including a certain no.29. Iannone and Marquez: the Duel Part 2 – Urban Disco. Him and Dani had stood there with a beer each, watching them take it desperately seriously, giggling to themselves and filming parts of it, and Vale had been vaguely aware of the seeds of jealousy that he’d started to feel. It wasn’t something he’d ever act on, and it certainly wasn’t something he ever thought would be reciprocated, but he knew it was there. He wondered if Dani could feel that, and wondered if the effort he’d made to get Dani here – rather than just Marc – had allayed any fears he’d felt. Ultimately though, it didn’t matter. The way Marc looked at Dani was the way Valentino would pay millions of Euros for someone to look at him. And it would never be the champion from Cervera, he knew that much.

“Honestly, you spend all your time with him. Have you ever seen anything like this?”

Vale looked sideways at Dani and nodded in the direction of the dance off, vaguely aware that they’d moved on from the seventies style warm up and it was now strange pole-dancing-cum-salsa whetting the competitive appetites of the two younger-but-old sparring partners. Dani shook his head and kept staring.

“Never. I don’t know whether I’m impressed, intimidated or worried.”

“I’m quite impressed.”

Dani laughed and clinked his bottle against Vale’s. “Being honest, I probably am too.”

There was a thud as Andrea’s ass connected with a lamp and they all immediately looked round at Valentino with guilty faces. He waved his hand at them and shrugged. “Carry on...”

They did.

*

Vale walked downstairs and stopped, backtracking as his brain caught up with what he’d seen. He reached the top of the bottom section of stairs again and let his eyes wander down the line of photos. They were all framed, in glass, protected, so it didn’t really matter…but every single one of them was now sporting an exuberant moustache.

Vale groaned and walked back down to the bottom. _Please let there not be more…_ He did a quick search of downstairs and found nothing, and started to relax. _I should never have left them up alone…_

He grabbed some orange juice out the fridge and took a swig out the bottle before remembering he had guests and surreptitiously glancing around to check no one had seen him before he put it back, just before Marc walked in, rubbing his eyes.

“Morning.”

“Morning.”

“Did you see the moustaches?”

Vale nodded and shrugged. “Were you involved?”

“No. That was Andrea and Julián.” Marc looked innocent enough, but then suddenly dashed over to the window and peered outside. “It worked!”

Valentino felt the slight ball of panic start to form in his stomach. “WHAT worked?!”

Marc looked around at him, innocence now gone and replaced with slight guilt but complete, wicked satisfaction. “That! Impressive considering it was dark, right?!” He pointed outside and Vale followed his gaze. And groaned.

“Oh my God.”

Marc laughed _that laugh_ and followed him outside as he went to inspect it. Somehow he’d never heard them open the garage in the middle of the night and take the lawn mower out, and plan and execute a redesign of his lawn, which was now mowed into an admittedly impressive ‘X-fuera’ logo. All 50ft of it.

“You bastards.”

Marc laughed again and wandered back inside, opening the fridge as Vale had done before, taking the same orange juice, and then disappearing back upstairs. Vale sat on the wall and stared down at his invaded kingdom.

_There will be a bill issued for this._

*

“Wake up…” Marc got back on the bed and kissed Dani’s cheek. “Wake up….!”

His eyes fluttered open and focused on Marc with a massive grin, eyes slightly showing the adventures of the night before. “Morning…”

“Morning.” Marc sat down next to him and offered the orange juice, which Dani took and gulped some down.

“Thanks. Not quite breakfast in bed, but good enough.”

Marc prodded him through the duvet and grabbed it back. “Fine!” 

The older rider stuck his tongue out and stretched his arms above his head, trying to wake up, before suddenly looking back at Marc and making an ‘eek’ face. “The lawn…”

Marc cackled and nodded. “I KNOW! He’s pretty mad.”

Dani cringed and pulled himself upright, taking the orange juice back again but allowing himself a laugh. “I would be mad if that was our house!”

Marc looked at him, smiling, eyes familiarly sparkly but questioning, the moment changed into that strange, nervous pause where someone says something that both hope to be true but hasn’t been discussed. “Our house?”

Dani went ever so slightly red and shrugged. “Isn’t it our house?”

“Do you want it to be our house?”

“Do you?”

They stared at each other and shared a nervous laugh before Marc spoke again. “You think of your house in Geneva as our house?”

Dani nodded and pulled Marc’s t-shirt collar towards him for a quick kiss. “Since the day you showed up on the doorstep, I think I’ve probably spent a week there without you.”

“I…” Marc thought it through and ran over what he thought he would mean if he told someone he was going ‘home’. Cervera? Geneva? Anywhere? “I guess…I always thought…I don’t know. I’d say home was with you, but I still think of it as ‘your house’.”

Dani looked slightly hurt and frowned. 

“No! Not in a bad way…just, you know. A lot of my stuff is still in Spain. I think…I don’t know.”

Dani looked at him expectantly and when he didn’t carry on decided to just delve in. “Would you like to officially move in with me?” Marc’s face lit up. “OR, actually…” It fell. “Would you prefer it if we bought somewhere together? Somewhere different?” It lit up again.

“Yes!”

“Which one?”

“Either. Move in with you. As in, bring everything from Spain. Car, bikes, clothes…everything?”

“To Geneva.”

“Or somewhere else, I don’t mind.”

“Well…which?”

“I like your house.”

“So…Geneva.”

Marc nodded and grinned. “I like…OUR house. Even more.”

Dani smiled and nodded as Marc got back in the bed properly and snuggled down.

“You know I said to Vale last night that I didn’t care anymore?”

“Hmm..?”

“Well…I meant it…I don’t care anymore. About all the bullshit or whatever’s waiting for us. Doesn’t matter, does it? Same paddock, same friends, same family… we can still lock the door whenever we want.”

Dani nodded and kissed the top of his head. “Easy to say when we’re here, though…”

“I think it’ll be the same out there, honestly. Whatever it was that made me so uncomfortable about it…it wasn’t them, it was me. I was uncomfortable with me.”

Dani smiled to himself and yawned slightly. _I know._

“But…I don’t know. It’s been a crazy few years. Championships, massive crashes, attention, fame, pressure…it all built up and I never really took time to let anything sink in. And then we got to New Year’s Eve…”

“And it all sunk in?”

“Exactly. And I couldn’t deal with it all in one go.”

“So you decided to add one more massive complication and go out looking for a gay life partner?”

Marc laughed at his choice of words and nodded. “Exactly. Makes perfect sense.”

Dani laughed with him and threaded his fingers through Marc’s. “Regrets?”

Marc nodded and smiled at Dani’s worried expression. “Le Mans. We wasted too much time. And-”

Dani smiled and felt the worry fade. “No, we’re here now. And maybe we wouldn’t have been if we hadn’t waited, and sorted it all out…it all led us here, right?”  
Marc nodded and squeezed his teammate’s hand. “Can I bring something up that I’m not sure you’ll like…?”

Dani raised an eyebrow and looked at him expectantly. “Yeah…?”

“Indianapolis…I just…” Marc took his hand back and rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling, long pause taking over as he figured out what to say. “I can’t believe I did that. I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” A tear suddenly rolled from the corner of the eye Dani could see. “I…just can’t believe-“

“Stop.” Dani sat up and looked down at him, realizing that somehow this was the first time he’d ever actually seen him _cry_. Calmly. “Just don’t. We don’t need to talk about it. Not because I want to forget it happened or try and pretend it didn’t, just because I forgive you. Honestly. I forgive you. I understand everything that happened, I understand everything fine.”

“I feel like I haven’t ever really said that I’m sorry…”

“You have.”

“But have I shown you?”

“Marc, you stood up in front of everybody and told them. That was incredible.”

The younger rider looked back at his teammate for the first time. “You know that…it wasn’t a…tactic, right? That I did it because…well, no…that I _thought_ about doing it for the first time because I knew it was the only thing I had left to show you-“

“I know.” _How the hell did we end up in this conversation right now?!_

“I love you. You know that?”

“Yeah. I know.” _Because the way you look at me is like hitting a barrier at 180mph._

“But really?” Marc searched Dani’s eyes with his own. “You _know._ ”

“I know.” Dani leant down slowly and pressed his lips gently against Marc’s. “I know, and I love you.”

“But…why?”

Dani groaned good naturedly and wondered if this particular battle would ever be won. _I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying. In fact, that’s exactly it._ “I don’t want to have this conversation ever again, ok? After today, when I say ‘I love you’, I want you to think about everything I’m about to say. Everything, ok?”

Marc nodded and stared at him, completely focused. “Ok…”

“What I immediately thought when you said that was ‘Will he ever listen to me when I say that?’ and then I thought, ‘I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to make him listen.’ And I’ll do that if I have to. On my 93rd birthday, if you _finally_ understand how obvious it is how amazing you are, then fine. I hope before, but you know…proving a point.” He grinned and Marc smiled back. “I know you’ve spent all your life on a bike and…I don’t know…I don’t want to overstep a line, but I don’t think anyone stopped to try and explain that they love you because you’re Marc, not because you win. You’re used to going out of the box and fighting for it, and coming back and seeing smiling faces. Like that’s why they smile…because of the results, instead of because of the person that made them happen. I love it when you win. Because I know who made that happen…it’s…” Dani let out a little growl of irritation and laughed at Marc’s face. “It’s hard to explain because you’re…I don’t know. Ok, I’ll try again. You’re absolutely incredible. I mean here, right now. No tyres, no petrol, no bike. YOU are incredible. You’re just…the words sound stupid, but you’re on fire. You’re so _everything_ all the time. It’s infectious and it makes me feel like I can do anything. It makes me feel like I’ll beat YOU every time! Walking down the pit lane and there’s no one there and everything is so normal. Then you appear and it’s like everyone got out of bed on the right side. Like everything is solvable. I can’t explain it…I know I’m not like that. I never have been.” Marc looked like he was about to interrupt and Dani shook his head. “It's right this way. Think about a _castell_. I’m the one on the ground keeping everyone up there, and you’re the one on the top of the tower. I know sometimes you don’t like it, but you’re there for a reason. And sometimes I don’t like it either. You steal all my screen time! But that’s why it works.”

Marc stared at him and didn’t say anything.

“Do you understand what I’m saying? You made a mistake in Indy. And it really fucking hurt. But it was a mistake. And you came back and showed me that you’re willing to share _that_ with me. Share everything. And compared to a stupid 5 minutes in a bathroom…it’s not even worth talking about, ok?”

Marc smiled and cleared his throat slightly, Dani could tell to try and make sure he didn’t crack when he spoke. “It was more like 2 minutes, really.”

Dani stared at him before he burst into a fit of strangely freeing laughter. “I bet.”

Marc nodded and shrugged at him with a little smile, but still looking at him in that way, like maybe he had discovered God was real, and Jesus was sat in front of him. “How do you do that?”

“What?”

“Say things like that! I can’t even start to let that sink in.”

“You already did this to me. Do you realize what it felt like when I realised what you were going to announce in that press conference? I thought I was going to explode.”

“That was just a gesture though.”

_No. It’s because you explained everything with that, but I have to explain everything like this._ “No it wasn’t. Stop doing that! You know what that meant. You were willing to do that…and deal with it on your own, as well. Just announce it to make me at least know you cared. And more than that, that letter. I read it. I read it so many times. You said amazing things. That weekend, when they said you were having a press conference, I got annoyed with you.” He laughed and shook his head at the memory. “I got annoyed with you because you were going to have so much press attention and I wanted to talk to you and I thought you’d be too busy! Some of the stuff you wrote got everything in perspective. I almost wanted to apologise to YOU for not being more understanding.” 

_Marc’s eyes widened and he shook his head in return._ “What?! I worry about you. It’s good you have me. Some bitch could have taken advantage of you.” He raised an eyebrow and Dani felt himself grin. _He’s back._

“She could. Well, she did." 

“Pfff. I know. So good at convincing you it’s not about the image, right?” 

Dani nodded and finally let himself lie down again next to his teammate as they both laughed. “That was intense.” 

“So…remind me how you feel about me again?” 

Dani smacked him lightly on the arm. “Shut up. Just trust me.” 

“I do." 

“So listen to what I’m saying. But don’t grow an ego. That’s unattractive.” 

Marc laughed and suddenly straddled his teammate. “Too late for that…” 

Dani fake glared at him and relaxed as Marc pinned each hand down. “So we’re moving in together then?” 

“Yeah, eventually I think that’s what we decided.” The younger rider laughed as he pulled his shirt off. “Now…that _castell_ idea…” 

Dani raised his eyebrows. “Yeah?" 

“Maybe sometimes I do like being on top…” 


	15. Epilogue: La perseverança tot ho alcança

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never really wanted this to end. Hope you liked it.
> 
> It hurt, writing this last bit. I always intended it to end like this, but...look at my username and figure out why. ;)
> 
> But anyway...thank you, gracias, gràcies.

“Ready?”

Marc nodded and adjusted his bag on his shoulder. “Yeah. Let’s go home.” He turned to Vale and pulled him into a hug. “Thank you. For everything.”

“You’re welcome. Have a good trip.”

Dani said his goodbye and they headed outside and back into the hire car. The drive to the airport was happy but nervous, someone would certainly notice them at some point. They did, once they got into the terminal. Photos left right and center. They tried to ignore it for a while, just carrying on calmly, until Marc finally grabbed Dani’s hand and resolutely refused to let go. They looked at each other and Marc suddenly burst into a fit of giggles. He turned round to the cameras and waved at them before planting a kiss on Dani’s cheek and walking away, through security, closer to his teammate.

“I don’t care. I really, really don’t care.”

*

Cheste

Marc had crashed in Sepang. He was fine, and like he’d said to his dad way back on the night he’d told him; it wasn’t him anymore. The brakes had failed, a la Motegi Espargaró. But the formula that had developed between the 3 of them – every time 1st 2nd or 3rd Pedrosa, Marquez, and Lorenzo meant that the championship was so close that he was going into the last race 24 points down on Dani and 25 down on Lorenzo. But he could live with that. Win and lose as a team.

The race was brutal. Not unsafe, but _close_. Every lap had two or three passes and Marc could see Dani would have the pace if he could get past Jorge before the straight and get a clean run into turn 1. But the Mallorcan wasn’t having it. He never would.

3 laps from the end, Marc made a move on Dani into T1 and felt the arena full of people gasp. He stuck his hand out in that classic gesture used so often in the lower classes and never obeyed: just stay behind me for a minute. He remembered waving Pol Espargaró through when he was on the verge of his 125cc world championship. Valencia always seemed to have something different waiting for him, and he hoped that just this once, Dani would understand that on track and off track were the same. He shadowed the Mallorcan around for the remainder of the lap before pulling out at the end of the straight and blocking him into the turn.

_Now follow me through._

He risked a look behind, which is something he never did, and saw Dani attack immediately into Turn 2. Marc kept the gas twisted as normal into Turn 4 before taking a different line; the one the Yamaha used with its higher corner speed, the one Lorenzo would be lunging for. He slowed more than he needed to and watched as the flash of Repsol orange went past him on the inside, before gunning it again as soon as he dared, hoping the superior acceleration of the Honda would be enough to keep the order the same. It was. No white and blue appeared in his line of sight.

Dani inched away corner by corner, and Marc could practically feel Lorenzo’s breath breathing down his neck. So he fought, and he watched Jorge’s head shake at him as he did, and gave a few in return. _Not today._ Corner by corner they switched places as Dani just chipped away at the front.

By the final lap, Dani had enough of a gap. As Lorenzo blasted down the straight stuck to the left hand side of the track, intending to completely block the inside line into the corner, Marc realised he was going to come third. It was the kind of move that Senna used to make work. The kind that said ‘I’m in this space. If you want it, you’re going to have to hit me out of it.’ They wouldn't both make it, and he couldn't make up the time over the rest of the lap. But the Mallorcan had those moments, the moments when nothing really mattered except the fact that he refused point blank to accept defeat. And, Marc realised, he couldn’t want it as much as Lorenzo did on that day. Because he wasn’t going to win the championship. Dani was. And if Lorenzo wasn’t the type of rider to do that, it wouldn’t mean as much as it did.

And it meant a lot.

He kept pushing to keep himself entertained as he watched Lorenzo pull away. He was going to close on Dani, Marc knew that, but the Yamaha would never beat the Honda to the line, as Ben Spies and Casey Stoner would attest.

So Marc sat back and tried to think of the right thing to say when, he knew, he would pull up alongside Dani in front of his fan club. He watched as his teammate rounded the final bend and crossed the line, watched the Yamaha pass terrifyingly close behind him, but not close enough. In 9 years of trying and countless injuries, Dani Pedrosa was finally MotoGP world champion. Marc braked much earlier for the corner than he normally would have done, and cruised round with a lump in his throat.

He pointed at his team and shaked his fist happily as he blasted past the pit wall before speeding up again and catching up with his teammate. Dani flipped his visor up and looked across at him, and they stared at each other for a second before Dani pulled a wheelie and then ground to a halt in the decided location.

Marc grinned as he watched some of the fan club poured out onto the track and wondered if Dani had discovered his plan. Probably not.

The motorsport magazines would celebrate with them the way it was intended. The newspapers the next day would point out how Catalan it had been, and wonder what kind of message they were getting at. But for Marc, it was just proving a personal point. 

The baby samurai was finally top of the _castell_.


End file.
